Under a Wounded Sky
by Psamathe
Summary: SamJack UST. A sequel, of sorts, to Entity. SG7 goes MIA during the completion of a routine mission. When SG1 are sent to investigate a suspected Stargate malfunction, they find that something is coming through an outgoing wormhole!
1. Chapter 1

He was home.

­

Jack O'Neill dropped his bags with a happy sigh and walked through to the kitchen to see if a cold beer was available. The fridge was empty. Typical, now he was off his medication and able to drink, he hadn't had the foresight to leave his fridge stocked. Now what was he going to do?

Call Daniel was the first thing that came to mind, before he remembered that his friend didn't keep beer in the house. If you wanted coffee, he was better than Starbuck's, but it was too late to think about caffeine. Jack was starting to wish he'd stayed up at the cabin.

As the years went by it was becoming more and more difficult to leave the place he regarded as his sanctuary.

Although he wasn't officially due back until the following morning, Jack seriously considered dropping by the SGC. Carter and Daniel would have left for the night, but Teal'c would be there. The truth was, after two weeks of solitude, Jack wanted company. At least, at the SGC, there would be someone to talk to, even if he ended up shooting the breeze with Walter. Decision made, he picked up his keys and left the empty house.

Jack hadn't had much contact with his team over the past few weeks. Although he'd broken his own rules and taken his cell phone with him, it had been a medical necessity. Daniel had called to let him know they were going on a mission without him. No real details, just enough to make sure Jack was worrying about them. And Carter had phoned a couple of times to check he was still alive, which was gratifying.

The SGC was quiet, the majority of personnel having left for the night. Jack found Teal'c in the gym, working on his biceps… although why he might want to make them any larger was anyone's guess. The other man broke into a rare grin when he realised who had interrupted his work out.

"You are well, O'Neill?" he asked.

"Sure," Jack replied, "as well as can be expected. You know with the knees, the back… did you miss me?"

"Indeed. I believe you would have found our last mission fascinating."

"I bet. Anyone else here? Daniel? Carter?"

"Daniel Jackson departed some hours ago; however I believe Major Carter is still on the premises."

"Carter's here?"

Jack couldn't help expressing his surprise. Did this mean Carter had dumped Pete?

"Pete Shanahan has returned to Denver."

Damn it!

"Maybe I'll drop by and say hi. Let her know I'm back."

"I believe you should do that O'Neill," Teal'c replied.

It might have been Jack's imagination, but Teal'c's eyebrow was raised in what was almost a smirk. Just because T had a hot thing going with Ishtar, he seemed to think everyone should be engaged in romantic pursuits. It would be match making next, SGC speed dating, Jaffa style. Five minutes to prove your ability with a staff weapon, overthrow a false god and measure your pain threshold.

"Should have called Daniel," Jack muttered to himself as he tried to dispel the distracting images.

"Catch you later," he added as he left Teal'c to his biceps.

XOXO

Sometimes it was hard to say goodbye, Major Jerry Mason mused as he pulled on his pants.

P9J-567 was a peaceful world, some might have said idyllic. It was certainly the quietest tour of duty Mason could remember since he'd been assigned to the SGC. True he'd spent the first six months with SG-3 but from all reports his current unit, SG-7, had had their share of misfortune. They'd been wiped out at least once, if he recalled correctly. No one ever said travelling the universe was a safe occupation and generally the benefits more than made up for the risks. Mason smirked to himself as he recalled the exact nature of the previous night's benefits.

The people here were friendly enough, even if their civilization hadn't progressed much further than the seventeenth contrary. It was like stepping back to ye olde Englande, Mason realised. He'd visited London, York ... and parts of those cities didn't look that much different from what he saw now. There were narrow streets, overhanging buildings and sloping rooms. Except out here, it was all dirtier not to mention smellier. Yes, the lavatory facilities definitely left a lot to be desired which was one of the reasons SG-7 had decided to set up camp a little way out of town to escape the smell. You got used to it though.

Mason opened the window and leaned out a little way. He'd miss this, he realised. The sun was rising, smoke curling from the chimneys, softening the outlines of the buildings. He could just about make out the river which wound it's way through the heart of the town. A ship was putting into port, recently returned from lands unknown. Mason found himself wondering what it was like to explore a new world, without the benefit of a Stargate

He wondered if these people still thought their planet was flat.

Squinting into the distance, he could just about see the radio telescope the SGC had sighted on this world. The twenty-five metre dish had taken the engineering team a month to build. An amazing achievement when you thought about it. Although SG-7 were leaving, another team would take their place.

A career soldier, Mason didn't understand much about the observations they were making, but they certainly had the other members of the team excited. The terms black hole and micro-quasar were bandied around, but they meant very little to him.

In the room behind him, someone stirred and Mason turned towards her. Elizabeth was young, pretty and willing. At first, those attributes were all he'd cared about, but over the two months since SG-7 had arrived, Mason had genuinely become fond of the girl. He knew he wasn't the first soldier to develop an attachment off world, and he certainly wouldn't be the last. Even the great Colonel O'Neill had been known to dabble with the natives although it was something one had to be careful not to mention in Sam Carter's presence.

There was no going back, that was the real problem. It would be doubtful that Mason would ever be able to return to this world. The USAF weren't keen on using their multi-million dollar piece of technology just to let a guy see his girl. Elizabeth knew that. Mason had made it clear from the start that once he was gone that was it. He wasn't coming back. Now he could see the quiet acceptance in her eyes and somehow that was worse than angry histrionics. Knowing there was nothing he could say, Mason crossed to the door and let himself out. 

The house was empty. Elizabeth's mother had died in childbirth and she had no siblings. Her father, Isaac, was a cantankerous man. He certainly wouldn't be pleased if he knew what his daughter was doing. This morning, however, Mason was safe. Isaac was the local equivalent of an astronomer and had spent the previous night shut away in his observatory. His reflecting telescope was primitive by Earth standards. No automated drive, no computer imaging, his observations were recorded by hand. He had shown very little interest in SG-7's more sophisticated equipment although the common interest in the heavens had been instrumental in Mason meeting Elizabeth.

Under any other circumstances, Mason would have enjoyed the walk. The coolness of the early morning air lingered despite the rising of the sun. A soft breeze was blowing in his face, taking away the stench of the town. Before long, he knew he'd be back at the SGC, trapped below ground until the doctors decided to let them leave. That was another problem with an extended stay off world. The quarantine period seemed to go on forever.

The rest of the team knew where he'd been. Although Mason was sure that none of them approved, his commanding officer hadn't ordered him to stay away. It wasn't as if he had any attachments back home. His last girlfriend had walked out on him, so as far as Mason was concerned he was a free agent. Of course, there was that story about Colonel O'Neill and the STI, but Mason took care of himself. He wasn't stupid. A few extra 'rations' made it into his kit bag every time.

His team members were ready and waiting. The team leader, Colonel Smith, glared although he couldn't really complain, as Mason was actually ten minutes early. He decided discretion was the better part of valour. The blow-by-blow account of his night's activities could wait until they got back to the SGC.

"You all set?" Smith asked.

"Yes, sir," Mason answered and stepped forward to punch the coordinates into the DHD. The Stargate whooshed into life but he lingered behind the others as they started to shift their equipment towards the event horizon.

He took one last look around... just as the hiss of energy disrupted the peace of the morning air. Acting purely on instinct, Mason threw himself on the ground. He rolled over as he fumbled with his P90, trying to bring it to bear. It was only as he raised his head that he realised there was nothing to shoot at. The form coming through the Stargate was pure energy. It was so bright the rest of the landscape dulled by comparison. He couldn't look at it without his eyes hurting.

"Sir?" he called out, trying to divulge the position of the rest of the team.

There was no reply. Someone, something was pulling at him, dragging him towards the Stargate. Mason dropped his P90 as he dug his fingers into the soil, trying to stop the inevitable. Whatever it was, it was strong... too strong. He couldn't prevent himself being hauled towards the open Stargate. He screamed, for all the good it would do. There was no sign of the rest of his team. No one was going to come riding to his rescue. It was as if they'd been wiped from the surface of the planet.

"Jerry! Jerry!"

Elizabeth's voice. Damn it she'd followed him.

"Get back!" he yelled.

Glancing behind, Mason saw her coming towards him, even though there was nothing she could possibly do to help. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He had no choice. If he kept fighting, she'd reach him and get herself dragged into this too. Mason relaxed and let himself go.

XOXO

Graham Simmons had mixed feelings about being back at the SGC. On the one hand, the posting had a lot of benefits. There was a certain fulfilment in knowing you were defending your planet, being on the front line, not to mention the intellectual stimulation provided by the stream of alien artefacts. No other posting quite compared. There was however, a downside to being back. Major Carter. Simmons had gotten over his crush some time ago but that didn't stop him blushing every time their paths happened to cross. He'd really made an idiot of himself, which was one of the reasons he'd taken the opposite shift from the Major. He may have been short on sleep but it minimized their chances of actually meeting.

Things had certainly changed in the years he had been away. There were several familiar faces missing. Some had gone to other posts; some had given the ultimate service to their country and their planet.

There was a team due back any time now. SG-7 if he remembered the schedule correctly. The Stargate sprung to life right on schedule and Simmons hit the palm scanner to shut the iris. Then he sat back and waited for the code to come through.

And waited.

Graham started to panic. There was always the chance that someone would try to get through the Stargate without the proper code. He didn't want to be responsible for the dull thunk that signalled the end of a human life.

"SG-7 this is the SGC, come in please?" he called.

Nothing. He tried again.

"SG-7 the iris is closed, do not, I repeat do not enter the Stargate.

Then something exploded and Simmons jumped backwards with a yelp. Instinctively he hit the alarm.

He could see from the monitors that the Stargate had absorbed a great deal of energy. It was enough to overload the capacitors, and cause the fireworks. The fire suppression system hissed into action, dousing the fire almost as soon as it had begun. If Simmons had wanted to avoid Major Carter, blowing up the Stargate wasn't the way to do it. The wormhole was no longer active, at least not at this destination. Simmons suspected that, if SG-7 had entered the wormhole, they wouldn't find themselves on Earth.

As Simmons looked down into the Gateroom he saw the clean up crews were running in, the reliable Sergeant Siler amongst them.

"Page General Hammond," Simmons ordered.

XOXO

"How long?" Samantha Carter demanded trying not to raise her voice.

"It has to be custom made," Sergeant Siler replied.

It wasn't his fault, she reminded herself, and losing her temper wasn't going to help.

"Couldn't you just make a new one in the workshop?" she pushed.

"Not with the right degree of precision."

"And I don't suppose the manufacturer is in Colorado Springs."

"Germany."

"Terrific… Thanks Siler."

Sam closed her eyes for a second. The Sergeant had done his best but there was no getting around the problem. It was something they were just going to have to live with. She remembered how difficult it had been to get the component made in the first place. They'd had a back up, and a back up for the back up but stock control wasn't what it should have been. Something was always overlooked. The problem was this time the something wasn't just coffee, beans or post-it notes. This something was going to put them out of operation for the best part of a fortnight.

And Sam was going to have to break the news to the General. It wasn't fair to ask Siler to do it. She was the superior officer after all. Sam glanced up at the briefing room. They were all waiting for her report. She couldn't put it off any longer.

"Ten days," she said as she took her seat amongst the assembled team leaders.

Everyone knew better than to argue, which was a relief. Sam really didn't want to repeat the discussion she'd just had with Siler.

"What about SG-7?" Colonel O'Neill demanded.

"They may have been able to gate to the new Alpha Site," Colonel Reynolds suggested.

"We won't know until we get the Stargate working again," General Hammond said.

"Can we wait that long?" Colonel Edwards wanted to know.

Not one of the SG commanders liked the idea of abandoning a missing team. They were all profoundly aware that next time it could be their team out there and their people who were desperately waiting for help from Earth.

"Where's the nearest Stargate?" Colonel Dixon asked. "If we could get there we could contact the Alpha Site."

"Abydos has been destroyed, the Stargate on P3X-972 fell into the ocean…"Sam began.

"Whatever, we still don't have a way to get there," Edwards added.

Sam took a deep breath before continuing.

"There's a moon 200 light years away. It's not on the Abydos cartouche. Nothing of any scientific interest but we could use it as a transfer point."

"What about using the Prometheus?" O'Neill asked.

"I thought the hyperdrive was screwed?" Dixon said.

"It is but we can still use it in a limited fashion," Sam argued, "the Alkesh drive we fitted is only capable of jumps of forty nine light years. It won't take us across the galaxy, but it should get us to M9C-564."

General Hammond leaned back in his chair, considering her suggestion. Sam knew launching the Prometheus was always going to be a calculated risk. With the possibility of an attack by Anubis increasing, the ship was Earth's only line of defence. On the other hand, without an operational Stargate the planet was isolated. They had no way of contacting their allies. Establishing communication with the Alpha site could well give them more than just information pertaining to SG-7.

"All right, "Hammond agreed.

"SG-1 sir?" Colonel O'Neill offered immediately.

"SG-3 is off rotation until the Stargate is operational," Reynolds reminded the General.

"All teams are off rotation!"

"SG-13…" Dixon began.

"Still have one member injured and Wells is out on paternity leave. Which leaves SG-11," Edwards said.

"I'm sorry, but if it comes to nursing Prometheus to M9C they're going to need Major Carter on board. SG-1 you have a go," Hammond decided.

The disappointment on the faces of the other men was almost comical. Colonel O'Neill on the other hand looked like the cat that had got the cream, the pot roast and half a dozen cold cuts.

"How come you get all the cool missions?" Dixon demanded.

"It's a matter of style Dave," O'Neill grinned.

"Yeah, Carter's," Reynold's sniggered.

"How much to let her transfer to SG-11?" Edwards offered.

"No way. She's mine. Right Carter?" the Colonel said.

"Yes sir," Sam smiled.

She didn't say any more. Under other circumstances, she would have joined in their banter. It was certainly flattering to have these highly professional men fighting over her services even if she could never voluntarily see herself leaving SG-1.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we have a mission to prepare for," O'Neill smirked.

He stood back to let Sam precede him from the room.

"You okay, Carter?" he asked when they were alone in the corridor.

"Fine," she lied.

The memorial service was a month in the past but Sam felt like she was still speaking the words. She still didn't know how she'd managed to talk for so long without breaking down. Sam had never thought of herself as much of an actress but she must have been a damn good one. Afterwards she had found a quiet secluded corner and cried for an hour. She was certain her teammates had noticed that she'd been late for the wake but none of them commented. Daniel had given her a hug, Teal'c had saved her some food and Colonel O'Neill had driven her home. There had been nothing inappropriate about his actions. Everyone knew she was seeing Pete.

Of course, that weekend, he had chosen to stay in Denver. Sam had considered asking him to come down, but the truth was she was used to coping by herself. She really didn't want anyone else around. For a few days, Sam had shut the world out. By the time she saw Pete again she was in a more coherent frame of mind.

Their relationship was too new to show him the uncontrolled side of Samantha Carter.

As he had done when Daniel had died, Jack O'Neill wanted SG-1 back in rotation ASAP. Sam knew it was pointless to argue with him. She could have made some excuse and stayed behind, but somehow the idea hadn't occurred to her. SG-1 were a team. Where they went, she went and she wouldn't have it any other way.

XOXO

It should have been raining.

Should have been…

Daniel Jackson walked slowly through the graveyard. He didn't really know why he was here. He'd seen her die; he'd been to the memorial service he didn't need to stand over her grave. Didn't need to…

But here he was, weaving his way amongst the stones under a sun that shouldn't have been shining. He didn't know what else to do. Daniel didn't think he'd ever felt so helpless. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her die, cut down in front of him and he hadn't even been able to shoot the bastard who'd done it. He'd been too busy trying to save her life. Dumb move. She'd been dead before she'd hit the ground.

Perversely, Daniel had found himself calling out for Oma Desala. She'd managed to ascend the people of Abydos so why not Janet? His cries had been in vain. Janet's body had stayed right where it was. Why her? Why hadn't she been found worthy of ascension? Because she'd already been dead? Daniel still couldn't recall much about his own ascension, but he felt sure that mere death couldn't be a barrier.

So here he was. Standing awkwardly before the grave, a bunch of roses held loosely in his hand.

He wasn't the only person visiting the graveyard, not by a long shot, but he couldn't help feeling that everyone else had a right to be here. Janet had been his friend, true but that didn't seem like enough. Crouching down, he placed his flowers on the grave. He knew they wouldn't last long. Within a week, they would have withered and died.

As he walked away, Daniel found himself wondering about the other people here. Would they ever know of the sacrifice she had made? Would they care? Even at the SGC, it seemed like business a usual. The war they were fighting was bigger than any one person was. They had to pick themselves up and carry on.

Daniel knew he wasn't the only one to visit her here. Sam had talked about it one weekend and Teal'c had gone with her. He didn't know about Jack. Daniel had his suspicions but he was sure his friend wouldn't let anyone find out.

The unnatural quiet of the afternoon was rudely interrupted by the buzz of Daniel's phone. He silenced it immediately, glancing around in apology at the people he had disturbed. There was only one person who would call him when he'd specifically asked not to be disturbed.

Jack.

The SGC.

It was time to move out again.

XOXO

Sometimes Cassandra felt as if her whole world was falling apart. She wanted to be mature, she wanted to live up to everyone's expectations but she was struggling. When she'd lost her first Mom, she'd been little more than a child. She'd felt a child's confusion, a child's pain. Now she was on the verge of adulthood she could honestly say it felt a whole lot worse. Maybe she hadn't lived with Janet Fraiser as long as she had with her biological parents, but that didn't mean she cared for her any less.

The house, her home had been sold. Although Cassie would be going to college next semester it would feel odd coming back to Sam's place for vacations. Not to mention the fact that Pete would probably be around. It wasn't that Cassie didn't begrudge the fact that Sam had a boyfriend it was just… Somehow, everything felt wrong.

Even this room didn't feel like hers.

Her belongings had been transferred from her Mom's house, but it still wasn't comfortable. Cassie felt like she was a guest here. The boundaries were unknown. She didn't know what time she had to be home, how loud she could play her music, when Sam expected her to do her homework, what chores she was supposed to do… They were feeling their way into a new relationship. Although Sam treated her like an adult, Cassandra was certain she wasn't yet finished with being a child.

Now was a prime example. It was late, it was a school night and Sam had just walked in. She didn't say a word about the fact that Cassie was still awake, and watching TV. The teenager could have been watching porn and Sam probably wouldn't have noticed. There was obviously something on her mind.

"Sam?" she questioned.

"Sorry," Sam apologised, as she sat down, "I guess I'm not used to coming home and having anyone to talk to."

"Not even Pete?"

"He's not here all the time."

Sam laughed, before she sobered.

There was a far away look in her eyes, as if she was thinking of someone else entirely.

"Cassie," she went on, "I know this is soon but… there's this mission…"

Cassandra felt a moment of panic. It must have shown in her eyes because Sam was quick to continue,

"If you don't want me to go I won't."

"But SG-1 will go?" Cassie asked.

"Yes they will."

"Then you have to go with them."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

Cassie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her heart was screaming NO, but her head didn't seem to be taking any notice. Already her imagination was conjuring up several nightmare scenarios. What would happen to her if Sam didn't make it back? She knew the Air Force would make provision for her, but Cassie was almost eighteen. Technically, she didn't need a parent any more. And it wasn't just Sam. The whole of SG-1 might be wiped out, leaving her with no one.

"I shouldn't be gone longer than a week," Sam went on.

"Okay."

"There's plenty of food in the freezer and I'll leave you some money. Call General Hammond if you need anything, anything at all."

"I will."

Sam seemed somewhat reassured as she stood.

"You have to go now?" Cassie asked.

"I wanted to tell you in person rather than over the phone…"

Cassie didn't need Sam to complete the sentence. She felt the same way and was glad of the chance to say goodbye face to face. Sam opened her arms and Cassie stepped into them, almost crushing the breath out of the other woman. But Sam didn't complain.

"I'll be back before you know it," Sam said.

Cassie really, really hoped her words would turn out to be true.

XOXO

The hardest part was over but Sam still had to say goodbye to Pete. At least Sam had been able to talk to Cassie face to face, but Pete was in Denver this week. Although he tried to spend as much time as possible in Colorado Springs, he had yet to mention putting in for a transfer. It was something Sam suspected was coming, but she tried not to think about it too much. Living together would be a huge step … assuming she came back from this mission.

"Pete Shanahan," she told the officer on the switchboard.

"One moment please," the woman replied.

Sam tapped her fingers impatiently whilst Greensleeves blared in her ear. She really hoped he wasn't too busy to talk… or maybe she didn't. It would be far easier to leave a message. He could be busy with an important case. They had a deal now. Sam wouldn't pry into his work, if he would keep away from hers. It was the only way to stop him getting hurt. She still felt guilty he'd been injured and relieved that he hadn't been killed.

"Shanahan?" Pete's voice cut through the rendition of Beethoven's ninth.

"It's me," she replied.

"Hey, is something wrong? Are you okay?"

She didn't call him at work very often. He must have noticed the worry in her voice. Sam kicked herself. The last thing she wanted was for Pete to panic himself into an early grave. He couldn't afford to be distracted.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, "but I have to go away for a while."

"How long?"

"I don't know. We've had an equipment malfunction."

"So how…?"

"The old fashioned way. Pete, could you do something for me?"

"Sure."

"Keep an eye on Cassie while I'm gone."

"I'll make sure I drop by."

"Thanks."

She paused, not knowing what else to say apart from,

"I've got to go."

"Okay… love you."

"Me too."

Sam put the phone down. Her duty done, she could now concentrate on the mission. She didn't dwell on the fact that she hadn't been able to say ' I love you' in return.

Glancing at her watch, Sam wondered how long she had before they had to leave. She knew she needed a few moments to pull herself together. Before Janet died, it hadn't been so hard to say goodbye. She remembered crying her eyes out when the Colonel had gone missing and wondered how she could have ever been so naïve.

"Ready to go, Major?"

O'Neill's voice surprised her. Speak of the devil… Keeping her back to him, Sam surreptitiously blew her nose.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I just told Pete I was going away for a while," she explained.

"Oh. How's he doing?"

"Fine, he's fine. It's just that … since Janet …"

Crap. She hadn't meant to say that. The Colonel was the last person she should be talking to, for more than one reason. She turned to face him. There was no reassurance in his eyes, just a bleak acceptance of the situation. He wasn't about to offer random words of consolation. No one could guarantee that she'd come back alive and deep down Sam appreciated his honesty.

"C'mon," he told her, "hate to think what Teal'c might do if we're late."

"Trash the Gateroom?"

"Or raise an eyebrow, both events of cataclysmic importance."

"I'll be there in five, sir."

There was no one else to say goodbye to.

XOXO

Prometheus was the only way to travel, Jack O'Neill decided as he lay on his bunk revelling in the relative luxury of his surroundings. Sure, it was slower than the Stargate but it had all the comforts of home. Not like the cargo ships the Tok'ra were so fond of. Two seats, lousy air conditioning and Jack still had nightmares about the bathrooms. They were downright dangerous. If he hadn't had good reflexes... well it would have been very unpleasant and he doubted that Carter would have been happy to treat that part of his anatomy.

A year ago, that would have been heading towards Abydos. Jack wasn't sure what it was now. He hadn't bothered to find out. No… he hadn't wanted to find out. Might as well be honest. He'd lost too many friends when Anubis had destroyed that world, but more than that, he'd lost Skaara. Okay, so maybe they had all ascended… whatever that might mean. Jack wasn't convinced it was so much better than living out one's life in the material world. The only person he knew who had experienced that enlightened state still didn't remember that much about it. At least that was what Daniel would have them all think. Jack wasn't entirely sure that he believed his friend, but there were certain events he wanted kept quiet so he didn't push too hard.

Deciding it was time he had some company, Jack rolled out of his bunk and put on his boots. He wanted to head up towards the bridge, but he still recalled Colonel Ronson warning him away last time so he decided to try to find Carter. She'd know if they were nearly there yet. Of course, if she happened to be on the bridge then it would be a different matter. He had every right to talk to someone under his own command.

As he walked through the well-lit corridors, Jack couldn't quite get used to the fact that the ship was now staffed and operational. He nodded to the crewmembers of his acquaintance, smiled at the cute ones and saluted anyone who seemed to want it. There was no sign of Carter, though. Jack began to think she was avoiding him. She had been kind of quiet recently, but that was understandable. They all missed Fraiser. Jack suspected that Daniel had harboured a crush on the doctor but none of them had been as close to her as Carter. Hell, the two of them had been raising a child together.

Jack remembered Carter coming to see him after it had happened. He remembered holding her close for what felt like forever… and he'd felt guilty. Not because of the regulations, not because she was seeing another man, but because he was glad she was still alive. He hoped to God that he never had to find out what his life would be like without Sam Carter in it. He'd resigned himself to the fact that they'd never be more than friends but she was still important to him, as were Daniel and Teal'c.

Carter wasn't on the bridge. She wasn't in the engine room. She wasn't in the mess hall, but Teal'c and Daniel were, so Jack decided he'd make do with their company.

And that was another thing. At least on Prometheus one could eat a decent meal and not have to rely on MREs… or even worse… Tok'ra food. Jack remembered now. It was after eating something Jacob had given him that he'd been forced to make that dangerous trip to the bathroom. With a certain amount of relief, Jack collected a dish of oatmeal.

"Have either of you seen Carter?" he asked as he joined his two friends.

"She said something about wanting to get some sleep," Daniel replied.

"Carter? Sleep?"

She was definitely avoiding him. Jack gave himself a mental slap. It wasn't his place to worry about the reasons why. As long as she was doing her job, he didn't really have a reason to be concerned… apart from the whole 'care about her a lot more than I'm supposed to' thing. Not for the first time, Jack cursed the Tok'ra and their dumb machine. Okay, so they had managed to save the President's life but they'd lost Martouf and it had screwed up a whole bunch of other things.

He toyed with his oatmeal for a few moments.

"Anyone know how long we'll be in transit?" he asked.

"I believe we will arrive soon, O'Neill," Teal'c replied.

"So Carter won't mind if we wake her up?"

"Jack, if you want to go see her, go see her," Daniel snapped.

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Jack realised this probably wasn't a good time to tease his best friend so he shut up. No doubt, Carter would appear at some point, giving the impression of being bright eyed and bushy tailed. Trying to dig deeper into his team's lives didn't seem to be working. They probably thought him a heartless bastard for volunteering for this mission for the first place. He'd be the first to admit his reason were selfish. Jack knew enough about himself to realise it didn't do him any good to dwell on grief. Dragging his team out on this mission was the only way he could remain sane. If they didn't like it, too damn bad. He'd been the same after Daniel had 'died' and it had been Carter who had taken issue with his actions.

Now her silence was worrying him. He wasn't naïve enough to believe she had come around to his point of view. If she had issues with his orders then it was better to sort it out before the mission began. On the other hand, she wasn't usually one to keep her opinions to herself. He was letting his personal feelings get the better of him again.

The oatmeal didn't help.

He decided he'd had enough and threw it in the trash.

"Let's get ready to move out," Jack ordered.

XOXO

"Good luck," Colonel Ronson smirked as the Prometheus eased into orbit.

SG-1 had finally been allowed onto the bridge to view their destination. Jack winced as he viewed the bright surface of the moon. Once, just once he'd like to end up on a tropical world with blue sea and a nice beach. Pack the shorts, break out the sun block and catch a few rays.

"Gant what's the surface temperature?" Ronson asked.

"-50 sir, not taking into account the wind chill factor," she replied.

"Sweet," Jack muttered.

"It's warmer than Antarctica, sir," Carter said.

"Mmmm… Antarctica."

There were certain warm memories associated with ice and snow. He tried to catch Carter's eye but she was too busy studying the scanner readouts.

"The ice is 2000m thick," Gant added.

"So do we know where the Stargate is?" Daniel asked. "Are there any structures on the surface?"

Jack rolled his eyes. They weren't going to be on the surface long enough to look at anything, not without risking a serious ass freezing.

"Just set us down somewhere close by," he told Ronson.

They changed into their cold weather gear before departing. Teal'c, Jack noted, looked not unlike a polar bear by the time he was swathed in the white garments. He was almost cuddly.

"Beam us down," Jack ordered once they were assembled in the ring room.

It was just as uncomfortable as he had imagined. Although Jack boasted about being raised in Minnesota, he had no particular love of the cold. It was fine for a days skiing with a comfortable lodge at the end of it. Or if he was at the cabin, with the fire lit, sitting watching the snowfall. He'd loved spending long snowy days playing with Charlie. School closed and the two of them would run riot in the back yard. Here, however, there was unlikely to be hot chocolate with marshmallows waiting for him.

Gant hadn't been kidding about the wind chill factor. Jack could feel his face freezing despite the balaclava.

"Where's the Stargate?" he shouted.

"We should be standing right on top of it!" Carter called back.

Jack looked around hoping to spot the dark ring. The visibility was poor. Not because it was actually snowing, but the wind was whipping ice crystals into the air.

"I thought we'd been here before," Daniel yelled.

"We have, three years ago," Carter replied. "Something must have happened to the 'gate in the mean time."

"Ya think?" Jack muttered, but to himself.

"Major Carter!" Teal'c's deep voice had become a roar.

He was standing on top of the nearest rise gesturing down the other side. Slipping and stumbling in their efforts to climb the slope, the rest of SG-1 hurried to join him. Something in his right knee twinged, and Jack was forced to stop for a second. It was all right for Teal'c. His bulk gave him an advantage in these conditions.

"It's here, sir!" Carter called down to him.

How the hell had she got up there so fast? It was no good, Jack realised, he was definitely getting old. Ignoring the pain in his knee, Jack staggered the last few steps to the crest of the ridge.

"Crap," he swore.

The Stargate was there all right. At a guess, he figured the 'gate had once stood on the ridge and some seismic disturbance had dislodged it. There was a frozen lake below them and the Stargate lay at the bottom. Clearly visible through the ice, the wind had swept the surface clean of snow.

"Tell me we don't have to start digging," Jack pleaded.

"If we can find the DHD we won't have to," Carter reassured him. "The Kawoosh should take care of the ice."

"Right."

Carter started down the slope. How she managed it without ending up on her ass he'd never know. The rest of them followed at a more sedate pace. Stepping out onto the frozen surface, Jack wished he'd thought to pack his skates. At least he was better off than Teal'c who was moving very tentatively. The bigger man had a frown on his face.

Jack had the childish urge to start showing off.

After an hour of searching, Jack was ready to give up and go back the ship. He was getting to the point where he thought he'd never be warm again.

"Any luck?" he called into his radio.

"No sir," Carter's voice was the first to reply.

"Nothing over here," Daniel answered.

"I have not located the DHD," Teal'c added.

"We're sure there's one here?" Jack demanded.

"Yes, sir," Carter responded.

Jack looked up, trying to figure out how much daylight they had left. The sky was still a clear, brilliant blue.

"Carter, Daniel, get back up to Prometheus," he ordered. "Teal'c and I will carry on looking. You can relieve us in an hour."

He added the last words just as they both started to protest. Carter had less body weight than the rest of them, if he was cold, then she had to be.

It was Daniel who finally found the DHD. Two hours later, just as Jack had been about to eat. He tried not to let his annoyance show as he was summoned to the bridge with his tuna on rye. There was no love lost between himself and Ronson. He could admire the man professionally, but there would never be anything resembling friendship between the two men.

"It was the other side of the ridge," Daniel reported, shouting against the howl of the wind.

"The DHD went one way and the 'gate went the other," Sam's voice broke in.

"We've managed to clear the snow."

"Sweet. We'll be down in ten."

Unable to keep the smirk off his face, Jack turned to Ronson, 

"When we've gone send a team down to get that Stargate upright again," he ordered. "Then stay in orbit until you hear from me."

"Jack…" Ronson started to protest.

"That's an order."

There was nothing the other man could say. In the absence of General Hammond, Jack was the senior officer. He had command of this mission.

XOXO

It had been six weeks since the attack by the Super Soldier and consequently the new Alpha Site was barely operational. This time they'd gone for a more functional approach. Previous attempts had always been out in the open and vulnerable to attack. Like the SGC, this site was protected by the bulk of a mountain. It wasn't as comfortable as an over ground facility, but it was a hell of a lot safer.

The only advantage Daniel could find was the fact it was a whole lot warmer than the place they had just left.

There was an operational Stargate, a computer network, but that was about it. There seemed to be a large number of cardboard boxes piled around which, Daniel supposed, held equipment ready to be commissioned. He was kind of glad the Promethus was remaining in orbit close to an active Stargate. It would take them a day to reach Earth but it meant they weren't completely out of touch.

It was as if the year he'd spent on Abydos had never happened. Seven years and he'd forgotten how it felt to be cut off from his home world. Daniel was nervous and he didn't mind admitting it. He couldn't believe he had become so reliant on civilisation. Just as he'd been during those first weeks he'd spent with Sha're.

"We haven't heard anything from SG-7," Colonel Pierce was saying. "To be honest we were more concerned about losing contact with Earth."

The man looked hassled, which was understandable. He also looked far too young to have made colonel. Although Daniel realised he was probably biased. Not everyone of that rank had grey hair. The truth was Jack should have been a General by now… it was either that or Daniel himself was getting old.

Was that possible?

It only seemed like last week he had been receiving his PhD.

Yesterday that he had lost Sha're.

A few hours ago, that Janet had…

Crap.

He hadn't meant to think about her but somehow the memories just snuck in when he wasn't paying attention. Perhaps Jack had the right idea and they needed to keep themselves occupied. He glanced across at Sam who seemed to be intent on studying the new dialling system.

"It's smaller than back home," Daniel said to her.

"We've had a few more years to work on it," she replied. "Not to mention the advances in microchip technology."

Her explanation was short, succinct and so unlike the Samantha Carter he had come to know.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Still cold," she admitted.

If that was the only problem then he'd eat his entire library, but Daniel decided to humour her.

"Me too," he said.

Jack would have them through the Stargate within the next few minutes, but Daniel couldn't help wondering if it wouldn't be a big mistake.

XOXO

There were trees... and Sam Carter really hoped that her commanding officer wasn't going to make a comment. The truth was she was tired. Bitterly exhausted. She hid it as well as she could but she knew that eventually her temper would get the better of her and Sam pitied whoever ended up on the receiving end. As she glanced at her team mates she realised they all seemed a little subdued. The Colonel wasn't making bad jokes. Daniel didn't seem the least bit interested in the town before them. Even Teal'c was more stoic than usual.

Sam hadn't been sure what to expect. When she and Colonel O'Neill had been a victim of similar circumstances, they'd been caught in a firefight. Here, they found themselves walking from the Alpha Site into a peaceful summer's day. There was no sign that there was anything wrong, apart from the pile of equipment standing before the Stargate. SG-7 had been planning to leave on schedule.

"Carter check it out," the Colonel ordered, "let me know if there's anything missing."

The others moved off to search the perimeter, leaving Sam to dig through the abandoned equipment. Searching through the belongings of potentially dead men wasn't one of her favourite occupations but it had to be done. It didn't help that the first thing she pulled out of one of the packs was a string of condoms. She tried to stuff them back inside, but too late. The Colonel had been close enough to notice.

"Well someone was having fun," he muttered.

"Major Mason, at a guess," Sam replied.

"You know him?"

"Matt and I went out a couple of times."

"Matt? I thought his name was Jerry?"

"Just my nickname for him, sir. Matt Mason the astronaut doll?"

"I remember."

Sam felt herself blush at the memory of the first time she had met the Colonel. She still couldn't believe she'd said those things.

"So you guys were an item?" he went on.

"Not really," Sam reassured him. "It didn't get any further than drinks after work. He's the love 'em and leave 'em type."

"Oh."

"You did order me to get a life, sir."

He mumbled something that Sam didn't quite catch and she found herself smiling. Despite her relationship with Pete there was a still a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing the Colonel a little riled. She went back to her task while he stamped off to see what Teal'c and Daniel were doing. As far as Sam could tell, there wasn't anything missing. It didn't look as if SG-7 had ever entered the Stargate. So were they still here somewhere?

Sam started to take a closer look at the area around the Gate. The ground was bone dry so there were no telltale boot prints. It was only when she reached the DHD, that Sam noticed something out of the ordinary.

"Look at this!" she called out.

The other members of the team jogged over to join her.

"Here and here," she indicated the areas on the ground.

There were ten gouges in the soil. Teal'c studied them for a second,

"It appears as if someone was dragged towards the Stargate," he said.

He then pointed to more marks, so feint that Sam had missed them the first time. There was no way of knowing if it was just one or more of the team... or if they were dead or alive. Something was bothering Sam, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"We'll head into town and talk to the natives," the Colonel decided, "Someone might have seen something."

XOXO

At O'Neill's signal, Teal'c dropped back a few paces. The civilization before them appeared to be primitive. If an attack were to come, it would be from the direction of the Stargate. Teal'c found himself glancing over his shoulder at regular intervals. He knew he was being irrational. The noise of the Gate activating would be his first warning and there would be plenty of time to prepare for battle… unless the unknown enemy was still here. That was a possibility he hadn't considered and the thought was making him uneasy.

The shadows were lengthening as they entered the town. In a place that relied on candle power the darkness signalled the end of business for the day. The shopkeepers were taking in their wares and making their way home. SG-1 were drawing some strange looks, but these people were used to the khaki clad teams walking through the streets. At first, no one sought to challenge them.

O'Neill called a halt in what appeared to be a central position. The open space was square and paved with cobbles. Buildings surrounded the area and, unlike the dwellings in the other parts of the town, these were built from stone. Teal'c deduced that the change in construction materials indicated a position of wealth and importance.

"So Daniel, what do you think?" O'Neill asked.

"About what?" the other man questioned.

"Should we start knocking on some doors?"

"I don't think we have to."

Now they had stopped the towns inhabitants were starting to gather round. Teal'c gripped his staff weapon a little more tightly. They did not appear to be a mob of the angry persuasion… at least not at the present time.

"Easy," Daniel Jackson breathed as O'Neill stepped forward.

"Howdy folks," O'Neill waved at the assembled crowd.

"You are from Earth?" a man asked.

"Uh… yeah. We're looking for some friends of ours. You may have seen them? Four people dressed like us?"

"We know of them," a man at the front of the crowd replied.

His voice was harsh, cold. Major Carter, Teal'c noticed, stepped closer to O'Neill. It was a protective gesture. Like Teal'c, she sensed the mood of the crowd was shifting.

"Great," O'Neill continued, "Maybe you can tell us what happened to them?"

"Jack," Daniel Jackson warned.

"Hush, Daniel. So? Anyone?"

"These friends of yours defiled my daughter!" the man shouted.

The roar from the crowd was enough to convince Teal'c that they should start to move away slowly and carefully. Although the mob wasn't armed, there were a lot of them. He knew that O'Neill would be loathed to employ their more sophisticated weapons.

"Mason?" O'Neill hissed in Major Carter's direction.

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Damn it. Why the hell couldn't he have kept it in his pants?"

"You'll have to ask him that."

"I will… if we ever find him."

Then in a louder voice, O'Neill continued.

"Okay… we're going to leave now… but if anyone knows anything we'll be camping out by the Stargate."

A series of blank looks met his announcement.

"The big ring?" he questioned.

There were a few nods.

"All right… that's where we'll be."

O'Neill moved forward. When the crowd refused to part before him, he raised his P90. His impassive expression fooled the people into thinking he would use it against them. Even if they doubted O'Neill, they certainly believed Teal'c. Once again, he took position at the rear, walking backwards through the crowd. It was the only way to guard against a knife in the back.

This had not gone well. Major Mason's liaison was proving to be an obstacle. It was doubtful that any of these people would be willing to tell them anything. Still O'Neill insisted they camp by the Stargate, just in case...

XOXO

"Sir, I think I should take a look at the telescope," Carter said as they sat around eating their midday meal

"Any particular reason?" Jack asked.

"Just to make sure no one decided to get a little revenge."

It was a fair point. People had a tendency to attack things they didn't understand. The equipment was very valuable and had been a bitch to construct. Every component had been transported through the Stargate. There were times Jack wished the Ancients had made their gates just that little bit bigger. No doubt Carter could tell him exactly why there were this size… but Jack wasn't about to ask.

"I'll come with you," he decided and got to his feet.

"Sir?" she replied, a little surprised.

"My knees are getting stiff."

That wasn't the real reason of course. Jack just thought astronomy was cool. He may not have understood all the physics behind it but that didn't mean he didn't like to look at the telescopes or the pictures they produced. Daniel raised an eyebrow as Jack walked past… okay so maybe he wasn't fooling everyone.

The control system for the telescope was house in nothing more than a prefabricated hut, dwarfed by the massive dish. It appeared to be undamaged, much to his and Carter's relief. There was no lock on the door, so if someone had wanted to vandalise the equipment nothing would have stood in his or her way. Jack was pretty sure Carter wouldn't be satisfied with just looking at the dish.

"I wouldn't mind taking a look at SG7's observations," she said.

"Knock yourself out," Jack replied, "It's not like we have anything better to do."

Which was true. Jack wasn't certain what else they could do in their attempts to divine SG-7's fate. He couldn't very well force the townspeople to talk. It could be that no one had seen anything, in which case they might as well pack up and go home. If Carter could get anything out of this then the trip wouldn't be entirely wasted. Returning to the SGC was going to be hard enough, especially without any concrete information.

The recording equipment had been left on, waiting for SG-7's replacements. It was eerie to walk into the darkened building and hear the hard drives whirring as if they had a life of their own. Carter walked around the various computers, switching the screens on.

"So what were they looking at?" Jack asked.

"A nearby black hole," she replied.

"How nearby?"

"About a light year. Don't worry, sir, we're well outside the gravitational radius."

"Uh… good."

Instinctively, Jack looked up into the sky. He wasn't worried, wasn't worried at all.

"Actually it's a microquasar," she went on. "The black hole is orbiting a normal star. Instead of swallowing everything some of the attracted matter is ejected as jets along the axis of rotation."

"Cool."

Carter looked at him, trying to assess if his enthusiasm was feigned. Jack grinned back.

"Can we have a look?" he asked.

"Sure."

With a few deft moves, Carter pulled up the information from the latest event, but all Jack could see was an indistinct blot. There was no sign of any jets.

"That's not right," Carter muttered to herself.

She typed away for a few moments, but the picture didn't change.

"Unless it's heading straight for us?" Jack suggested.

"It shouldn't be," Sam argued, "look, this is the previous event."

This time the picture showed lines of material stretching away from the central radio source.

"Go back," he told her.

Carter did as requested. There was something else bothering him but Jack couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Look at the time stamp," Carter said. "It corresponds with the Stargate malfunction at the SGC."

"Do you think it might have caused the wormhole to jump?" he asked.

"I don't know."

In which case were SG-7 in transit when it happened? Were they stranded on some unknown world? Or had they found their deaths as the wormhole evaporated?

XOXO

Teal'c took the first watch. Even without his symbiote, he still required less rest than the human members of the team. Major Carter crawled into one tent whilst O'Neill and Dr. Jackson took the second. Within minutes, the sound of snores drifted through the night.

Major Carter, Teal'c decided, judging by the pitch and tone.

He had spent most of his adult life exploring new worlds; first for Apophis, then for the Tau'ri, yet the diversity was still amazing. Take this planet, very much like Earth if appearances were anything to go by. As he sat, staring into the night, Teal'c started to notice subtle differences. The fire burned with strange colours, greens, reds… and the noises of the night. Somewhere a bird was singing.

And footsteps were approaching. Teal'c stood, raising his staff weapon.

"Show yourself!" he ordered.

For several long moments nothing moved. Then a slim, pale figure stepped into the light. By her dress, Teal'c could tell she was one of the local inhabitants. However, he could not recall seeing her amongst the crowd who had gathered in the square.

"Your name!" he barked.

"Elizabeth," she replied.

"Put the gun down, T," O'Neill said as he crawled out of his tent.

His friends had been awakened by the sound of voices and Teal'c allowed himself to relax. He was certain one unarmed female would not prove a problem for SG-1… especially since the female was not Major Carter.

"Okay… Elizabeth," O'Neill smiled at the woman, "what do you have to tell us."

"I overheard you," she blurted out.

"Overheard us?" Major Carter asked.

Elizabeth moved closer to the other woman, seeming to take instinctive comfort in the presence of another female.

"You were talking about Jerry," she said.

"We were," Major Carter agreed. "Did you see what happened?"

"Yes."

"Then tell us, it might help us find him."

The woman paused, before pointing towards the Stargate. She looked terrified and Teal'c had a clear idea of how much courage it had taken for her to come and speak to them.

"Something… something came out and took him," she whispered.

"Came out?" Major Carter questioned.

"Yes. I saw them."

"People?" Daniel Jackson asked.

She looked at him blankly. Seeing that she didn't understand, Daniel Jackson attempted to ask a different question.

"Did they look like us?"

"No," she whispered.

"Did they have three heads? Scales?" O'Neill suggested. He was growing inpatient and earned himself a glare from both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson. Elizabeth took a step backwards, shaking her head.

"I should go," she said, "my father will be waiting for me."

"Wait!"

Teal'c hadn't been First Prime for so many years without learning a few things about command. The tone of his voice was enough to stop the fleeing girl. O'Neill opened his mouth to speak again, but Teal'c raised his hand, indicating that his friend be silent.

"Tell us!" he demanded of Elizabeth.

She looked terrified, but she answered him. They always did whether Jaffa warrior or frightened peasant.

"I saw lights," she whispered. "They reached out from the metal ring and took hold of him. He fought against them but they were too strong."

"What happened to the rest of SG-7, the men who were with Major Mason?"

"I don't know."

XOXO

Elizabeth's mind was in turmoil. She sat huddled by the fire, trying to warm her shaking body. The reality of her situation was starting to sink in. Perhaps her father had been right after all and these strangers were dangerous. The tall dark one certainly was. She wasn't quite so sure about the others, not yet. They had given her food, let her warm herself by their fire, yet she remained unsure. She was used to the easy familiarity of Jerry, and his friends. These people were tense, worried. They spoke together in low voices and Elizabeth wondered if they were talking about her.

She had come here for Jerry. If these people could find him, then it would be worth braving her father's displeasure. Elizabeth hugged herself as she struggled with the memory. Jerry had explained he had to leave, that he wouldn't be able to come back, but she had still followed him. To ask him to stay? To see him just one more time? She wasn't sure. The last thing she had expected was to see him dragged away from her. The sight had scared her so much she had fled back to her father and told him everything. It was then he became so hostile towards these visitors from another world.

"Hi."

Elizabeth looked up to see Major Carter standing over her, offering another one of their meals.

"No, thank you, Major Carter," Elizabeth shook her head. Their food wasn't very nice.

"Call me Sam."

The other woman sat down beside her.

"How did you meet Jerry?" she asked.

"My father also studies the stars. Your friends were interested in the work he was doing. Jerry spoke to me whilst my father showed them his observatory."

"Has your father been studying for a long time?"

"Ever since I was a small child."

Sam fell silent for a moment.

"Would he be willing to show us?" she asked.

"No. He would rather you all left."

"It could be important."

Elizabeth shook her head. They didn't know Isaac. Once he had decided he didn't like someone, there was no changing his opinion.

"What's on your mind, Carter?"

The tall grey-haired man had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I'm still thinking about that black hole, sir," Sam replied. "Something isn't right."

"And you want a second opinion?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

"Could you show us?" O'Neill asked Elizabeth.

The night sky was cloudy so Isaac would be at home. Assuming he hadn't discovered Elizabeth was missing. There was just one problem.

"I can not read his writings," she said.

"You can't read!" Sam exclaimed.

O'Neill rested his hand on Sam's shoulder, as if quieting an angry horse. The other woman reacted to his touch, restraining herself from making another comment.

"We can read," she said.

"If you could just take us there?" O'Neill asked.

Something about the man reminded her of Jerry. His attitude, the sparkle of humour in his eyes, Elizabeth found herself offering a shy nod.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"You will need other clothes. If you are seen…"

She let her voice trail away. Isaac had made certain that these people were no longer welcome. Elizabeth was certain money had changed hands. Due to his preoccupation with the stars, the townspeople held her father in awe. It was thought he could predict the future, had power over life and death, and could guide their ships safely across the wide expanse of the sea. Certainly, many important and influential people sought his opinion.

"Okay, if you can get some for us, Daniel and I will meet you on the edge of town," O'Neill said.

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

"Carter, women here aren't educated and I can read a star map as well as you can."

"Yes sir."

"You'll stand out, that's why I'm leaving Teal'c behind as well."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack was fidgeting. Not an unusual occurrence in itself, but in this case, Daniel really wished he'd leave a certain part of his native attire alone. It was embarrassing.

"Jack, stop it," Daniel hissed.

"It's too small," Jack snapped back.

"They're supposed to be snug fitting, now leave it alone."

"I don't see why you got the larger one."

Luckily, the darkness hid Daniel's smirk.

They were hiding in the shadows outside the building Elizabeth's father used as his observatory, waiting for her to give them the all clear. Daniel was slightly surprised to find it inside the town until he remembered that there was no light pollution. The observatory did not look that different from the Earth equivalents. Built from wood, it was a tall building with a domed roof. Although it did not revolve, Daniel could see a hole bisecting the dome.

No one had spared them a second glance as they'd hurried through the darkened streets. The people who were still around at this hour kept to themselves. They weren't about to challenge strangers.

The clatter of footsteps signalled Elizabeth's return.

"He must be at home," she replied a little breathlessly.

"Thank you," Jack said as they followed her up the stairs to the top of the tower.

The room reminded Daniel of his own office. Elizabeth had lit the candles, offering them some illumination. Papers were scattered over every surface, books bulged from the shelves and there was the comforting smell of wax and old parchment.

"How the hell are we supposed to find anything?" Jack complained.

"Elizabeth, where does he keep his drawings of the sky?" Daniel asked.

She immediately crossed to a shelf and pulled out a roll of parchment.

"He has been working on these for many years," she said.

Daniel took the document from her and unrolled it carefully. At one glance, he could tell that this part of the galaxy was more densely populated than Earth. What Jack expected to see, he wasn't sure. Daniel couldn't tell one star from another. He couldn't recall the last time he'd seen his friend study something this intensely. His uncomfortable codpiece forgotten, Jack seemed to know exactly what he was doing. They'd brought Sam's laptop with them. Jack switched it on and brought up the map downloaded from SG-7's observations. He'd found a straight edge and a pencil and was drawing a network of lines across the paper, correlating the two.

Despite speaking twenty-three different languages, Daniel had absolutely no idea what it meant. Jack hadn't been kidding when he announced he could read a star map as well as Sam. Every so often, he checked the computer display, muttering to himself. When he'd finished with one map, he went and got another. Daniel found himself in the unfamiliar position of being bored while someone else worked.

It seemed like hours later when Jack finally announced he was done.

"You find what you wanted?" Daniel asked.

"No," Jack replied, "It wasn't there."

"What?"

"The black hole, Carter told me the accretion disc was visible in a small telescope. It's in the most recent map but not in any of the earlier ones."

"So?"

"There should be something. It takes a pretty big star to condense down to a black hole. This close it would have been visible to the naked eye … look."

Jack showed him the difference between the two maps. There was definitely a mark in one and not in the other.

"I need to talk to Carter," Jack said.

They cleared up as best they could, although it was doubtful that there was any kind of order to be restored. Back in the street Elizabeth turned to them,

"You can find your own way?" she asked.

"Yes and thank you for your help," Daniel told her.

She was obviously eager to get home because she practically ran away from them. Jack and Daniel moved at a slower pace. The streets had emptied in the intervening hours and, aside from a wandering dog, it was doubtful anyone witnessed their passing.

Sam and Teal'c were waiting anxiously for them.

"What did you find?" she asked as they sat down by the fire.

"It's recent," Jack told her. "Dad had maps going back ten years or more. Up to six months ago there was nothing there."

"Nothing? There had to be."

"I know."

Teal'c looked from one to the other and then at Daniel, who shrugged. Despite Jack's earlier attempts at explanation, he still had very little idea as to the mechanics of black hole formation.

"I need to think about this," Sam said to forestall any more questions.

XOXO

Jack didn't sleep. This planet gave him the creeps. Sure, it all looked peaceful enough; quiet town, slightly surly natives … no reason to be worried. Apart from the fact that a SG team had disappeared here under mysterious circumstances and Jack didn't want SG-1 to be next. That was why he was unnaturally alert and not because Carter was now snoring happily to herself in the other tent. He wondered if it annoyed Pete… then again when Pete stayed over he doubted that he and Carter did much in the way of sleeping. It wasn't something Jack really wanted to imagine. He was getting very good at ignoring the fact she had a boyfriend. Since Carter didn't seem that keen on discussing her relationship with Shanahan, the arrangement worked out just fine for both of them.

Even though his watch wasn't due to start for another two hours, Jack decided it was time to get up. He was sure Daniel would welcome some company.

It wasn't a surprise to find the archaeologist had his nose in a book. How he could remain alert to his surroundings was a mystery, but he'd never given Jack any reason to complain. The habit was one the Colonel just had to endure, just like Carter's obsession with astrophysics and Teal'c's unnaturally large biceps.

"Jack," Daniel acknowledged without looking up.

"Daniel," Jack returned.

Jack sat down on a handy log and started to take his P90 apart. Probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, given they were in enemy territory, but he found the familiar action had a calming effect. He could do this backwards, with his eyes shut, which left his mind free to consider weightier matters… whether he'd remembered to set the VCR for The Simpsons, being a good example.

"Time to check in with Pierce yet?" he asked.

"Not for another half hour," Daniel replied.

There was no harm in doing it early, Jack decided and walked over to the DHD, ignoring Daniel's annoyed sigh. He paused a moment as he tried to recall the symbols. The Alpha Site had moved so frequently it was tough to keep track of where it actually was. He usually got Daniel or Carter to take care of the dialling, but since the other man didn't look like he'd be moving anytime soon, Jack punched in the symbols.

"Alpha Site this is SG-1 niner," Jack spoke into his radio.

"You're early," Pierce's voice replied. "Is there a problem?"

"Just wanted a chat."

"Excuse me?"

Sometimes that young man was too serious for his own good, Jack realised.

"Everything's pretty quiet this side. Heard anything from the SGC yet?"

"Not yet."

It had been a futile hope, Jack realised. When Siler made an estimate, it was usually correct down to the last second. There seemed little point in continuing the conversation as neither of them had anything to talk about.

Jack was about to sign off when he noticed something. The surface of the event horizon, usually flat, was bulging slightly. Curious, Jack walked around the other side. There was a definite dip.

"Daniel, wake Carter," he ordered.

Teal'c, Jack noted, had roused himself from meditation.

"Sir?" Pierce's voice questioned.

"I don't know yet. Keep this channel open."

"Sam!" Daniel called.

Two minutes later a very dishevelled Samantha Carter crawled out of her tent, still wiping traces of drool from her mouth.

"Carter, you ever seen anything like this before?" Jack asked.

She came straight over, all traces of weariness forgotten. There was no doubt about it the bulge was getting bigger, like a bubble about to burst.

"Uh Jack…" Daniel began, "You think we should…"

"Yes I do," Jack replied.

Grabbing Carter's arm, Jack jumped backwards dragging her away as the Stargate exploded outwards and something passed straight over their heads. This was no ordinary Kawoosh. It didn't sink back into the event horizon, leaving Jack and Carter to roll from underneath. Instinctively they backed away. Something inside seemed to be moving, pushing against the membrane.

"What the…?" Jack began, just as whatever it was broke through.

A dull roar filled Jack's ears as he felt the wave of heat singe the hair on the back of his neck as he turned away from it.

"Move!" he screamed the order.

They didn't even think they just started to run, Jack bringing up the rear. Teal'c led them towards the town and the distant river. Any thoughts of bad knees and a sore back were quickly forgotten. It was amazing how adrenalin and exercise diminished the stiffness. He'd suffer for it later when Fraiser found out what he'd been doing… Crap. It wouldn't be Fraiser. Jack couldn't believe he'd forgotten.

Behind them the vegetation was burning. Trees, grass, shrubs had flashed into flame with the burst of intense heat. The wind was blowing the smoke in their direction, making running over the rough ground that much more difficult. Swapping the grass for the uneven cobbles of the town gave them no relief. Jack was glad his team kept their physical fitness at a peak. If anything, he was the one lagging behind.

They were making enough noise to rouse the few inhabitants who hadn't been woken by the smell of burning. Soon, SG-1 weren't the only people fleeing towards the dubious safety of the water. The screams and yells of the populace were deafening and his voice was drowned out by the noise. He found himself being swept away from the other members of his team. Jack had forgotten one important fact about living without the benefit of modern plumbing and waste disposal. The town's trashcan was the river and the water wasn't exactly flowing rapidly. Up close, the smell was almost enough to make Jack pass out.

The fire had spread to the outskirts of the town and a group of men were forming a chain, trying to save their homes. Without thought, Jack joined them. He was relived to see Carter and Daniel further down the line. Teal'c was the only one of them who had braved the river. Half the juvenile population seemed to be clinging onto him as he waded into the water, guiding the women and children to safety.

As dawn broke, the true scope of the destruction was brought to light. Despite their best efforts, the townspeople had been able to save very little. Many of the buildings were still smouldering, but the fire, for the most part, had burnt itself out. Jack and his team sat a little away from the others. Now the crisis were over they were once again outsiders. Despite his best efforts, Jack hadn't been able to stop himself getting wet. He felt like he'd drunk half the river too. He stank, he was covered in soot, and his lungs were burning. The last person he wanted was to see Elizabeth's father heading in his direction.

Jack harboured a secret fantasy that the man was going to beg forgiveness for his previous behaviour… Followed by a feast held in honour of SG-1 and all the first-born children would be called Jack. Even the girls. The truth, however, was written in the man's face, his aggressive posture.

"You will leave," he stated.

It wasn't a surprise and Jack didn't even bother to stand. He was too tired. The other town's people gathered around, waiting, watching, No one seemed inclined to choose sides.

"You brought this thing to our land. You will take it away with you."

Jack still didn't bother to reply.

"In a couple of days, we'll be able to contact out homeworld," Daniel said. "We can bring help."

"We don't need your help!" the man snapped.

"Food, medical supplies…"

People started muttering to themselves.

"Leave!"

It was difficult to judge the mood of the crowd. Some of them seemed to be wavering, but the last thing Jack wanted was to have to fight his way out. Maybe it would be better to leave now. They could come back once they'd established contact with the SGC. Give it a few days these people might be happy to accept aid.

"Okay Daniel," Jack said as he struggled to his feet.

"Jack…?" the other man questioned.

"We're going."

"What?"

"Right now."

He didn't want to stand there and explain. Jack had to rely on his team to follow him, even if they didn't understand his reasons. Without a backwards glance, he started walking.

XOXO

None of their equipment had been worth salvaging. SG-1 stepped back onto the Alpha Site in just the clothes they stood up in… which were promptly taken away for incineration.

"They were right, you know," Daniel said to Jack as they waited for Sam to finish in the shower. The bathroom facilities weren't all operational and she'd won the coin toss to use the single functioning shower. Teal'c had disappeared to carry out a Jaffa cleansing ritual… or so he said. Daniel suspected he was just going to take a dust bath… or plunge into the nearest lake. Neither option really appealed to himself or Jack so they were forced to wait.

"What about?" Jack muttered.

"Us and the Stargate. Those creatures only attacked when the 'gate was active."

"It still doesn't make it our fault."

"I know and it still doesn't give us the right to walk away."

"Damn it Daniel, what were we supposed to do? Without back up from the SGC, we can't offer those people squat!"

"I think we should go back."

"We will, when we have something to offer them."

"Good."

"Fine."

The two men stood in silence, arms folded. Daniel knew Jack wasn't angry with him. It was the whole damn situation that had them sniping at each other.

"How long do you think Carter's going to be?" Jack asked.

"She took in shower gel, shampoo, conditioner…" Daniel ticked the items off on his fingers.

"How does she manage to fit all that stuff into her pack?"

"Handy travel size."

"Oh."

"And leg wax."

"She didn't."

"No."

Pushing himself upright, Jack started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Daniel asked.

"To find Teal'c. The lake suddenly seems appealing."

Daniel didn't really have the heart to blame him. Sam was certainly taking her time and there would be no escaping the lingering traces of melon and passion fruit. If Sam used the shower first, she always managed to make the rest of them smell like girls. She emerged a few minutes later, her cheeks flushed accompanied by a cloud of highly scented steam.

"Don't worry," she grinned at Daniel, "I left you some hot water."

"Thanks."

She'd lied. When Daniel found himself standing under the spray, the water was lukewarm at best. Then he remembered something. Jack had been the one to toss the coin and he hadn't shown anyone the result.

Son of a bitch.

Well, luke-warm water was better than nothing. Daniel hoped Jack enjoyed skinny-dipping with Teal'c.

XOXO

"We sure they were dialling out?" O'Neill asked her for what felt like the tenth time.

Sam took a deep breath before answering,

"Yes, sir."

She could tell he was shaken. They all were. It was one of the fundamental constants of Stargate travel. Two-way travel through a wormhole was impossible for anything other than energy. She'd written the theory herself. The fact that something had managed to drag one of her compatriots away was a cause for alarm. It hinted at a corporeal form, but that was impossible. Her mind was running in circles. There had to be a logical explanation… When Elizabeth had first told them, Sam hadn't really believed her.

"We sure…" he started again.

"Yes!" she snapped.

"But I thought…"

"It can't!"

"Then how…?"

"I don't know, sir!"

If he hadn't been her commanding officer, Sam would have been tempted to slap him. Not hit him. Not injure him, but just to express her annoyance.

"We have encountered one life form which was capable of such travel," Teal'c added.

"Yeah, but that was just energy, right Sam?" Daniel said.

"Right," she replied.

It wasn't something she particularly wanted to remember. Bad enough her body had been hijacked and her personality subdued, but her soul had been ripped away and forced into the cold, hard electric circuits. It still gave her nightmares. Sam never talked about it. Bad dreams were probably par for the course as far as the members of SG-1 were concerned. Hers weren't anything special. It wasn't something she particularly wanted to recall. A bad end to a very bad year; there had been all that business with the Colonel … And Martouf…

They were sitting in the mess hall, trying to make the best of the MRE's that were all the Alpha Site had to offer in the way of food. Sam was very much aware that they all still smelled slightly of sewage. It was probably the reason why the rest of the personnel were avoiding them.

"You think that could be responsible?" Daniel questioned.

"Yeah, all it really did was futz with the computer systems," Jack added.

"It caused considerable damage to Major Carter," Teal'c said.

Sam fought down a shiver. What she was about to suggest didn't exactly fill her with joy.

"I think we should go there," she said.

"Where?" O'Neill asked.

"P9C-372," Daniel supplied.

"Where?"

"The planet where the Entity came from," Sam explained.

"Is that wise?"

"I don't see that we have much choice. We can't send a MALP."

The Colonel dragged his hands through his hair as he considered the idea. Sam found herself holding her breath. She was certain that General Hammond would have agreed with her suggestion, she wasn't so sure about O'Neill. Even after all these years, his first instinct was to protect, by any means necessary. It was something she had grown to accept, even if her own instincts were somewhat different.

"We don't have any nukes here, do we?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir," she replied.

"Okay… then I guess we'll be paying these guys a visit."

He grinned at her, but Sam didn't feel much like smiling. They had to go to P9C-372. She could only hope that she wouldn't freak out once they got there.

"Get some sleep," O'Neill ordered, "we'll leave first thing tomorrow."

Teal'c, she noticed, waited behind as Daniel and the Colonel left. He looked at her closely. Sam knew he wouldn't speak, not unless she did. And her resolve lasted precisely thirty seconds.

"I'll be fine," she told him.

"Of that I have no doubt," he replied.

"Thanks Teal'c."

"For what?"

"Looking out for me."

Not that Daniel or the Colonel O'Neill were remiss in that regard, but she and Teal'c had grown closer over the past few years. Their friendship was a simple one, unburdened by the complications that marked her relationships with her other team members. Sam had to admit she hadn't been as comfortable around Daniel since his latest return from the dead, having mourned him once she was scared of losing him again. As for the Colonel…well, she wasn't going to go there.

"Do you remember your experience?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes," Sam replied.

"But you do not wish to speak of it?"

"I wouldn't know where to start."

Sam knew he was seeking hints about the Entity, in case they had to defend themselves. The problem was she had nothing to tell him. How exactly did you stop something so powerful burrowing its way into your mind? Sam certainly hadn't been able to stop it. Ironically, the only defence would be the one the Colonel favoured… blow them to hell. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. Sam was convinced the Entities could tell them what had happened to SG-7. The last time, the SGC had unwittingly been the aggressors. They just needed to find a way to communicate without harming the life form.

She was relieved to crawl into her bunk. Closing her eyes, Sam tried to sleep. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, listening to the sounds of the base, the whine of the air conditioning, quiet voices. It seemed she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.

Some hours later that she realised someone was in the room with her. She was vaguely surprised to realise the man in the bunk above was Colonel O'Neill. It didn't matter, not really. Pete had changed everything between them.

"Sir?" she questioned.

He was breathing too quietly to be asleep.

"What?" he asked.

"I was thinking about Matt," she admitted.

"What about him?"

"Do you think he's dead?"

"Who knows?"

"But we'll go after him, won't we?"

The Colonel shifted, poking his head over the edge of the bunk so he was looking at her.

"If we can," he promised.

Sam knew the situation was bigger than one missing man, but somehow it was easier to make it personal.

"But I'm going to take him to the Doc and get him castrated," O'Neill continued.

"Right," she couldn't help grinning. The Colonel had had his fair share of off world liaisons.

"Kynthia was drug induced."

"And Laira?"

"If I'd realised you were going to save my ass… I'll know better next time."

Sam decided that wasn't worth a reply, so she changed the subject.

"I think she really cares about him."

"Who? Elizabeth?"

"Yeah."

She heard Colonel O'Neill shift in the darkness. It seemed the subject she had chosen wasn't a comfortable one so she changed it again.

"I don't think we can learn anything more here, sir. I suggest we return to the SGC in the morning."

"Get some sleep," he replied. "And no snoring."

"I don't snore."

"Do."

"Go to sleep, sir."

She assumed her commanding officer actually followed orders and rested. Sam didn't. As soon as she was certain the Colonel was asleep, she crept out of the room. She spent the intervening hours working with her laptop trying to write a communication program. At best, she was guessing. There was no way to test her work. By the time she was satisfied it was almost time to leave. Sam hoped O'Neill wouldn't notice the dark circles under her eyes.

XOXO

Major Carter didn't look too good, was the first thing Colonel Pierce noticed when SG-1 appeared the following morning. He nearly said something, but held his tongue in the face of O'Neill's glare. If the older Colonel was cranky, it was best not to antagonise him.

Pierce had been with the SGC long enough to know when silence was the best policy.

He admitted SG-1's presence made him nervous. The Alpha Site was in no way ready for action. They'd only been here for a few weeks. There was so much equipment still waiting for them on Earth, not to mention the X-302s. He'd be a lot happier when they were able to defend themselves. According to Major Carter, it would be a few more days before they'd be able to make contact with the SGC. Not long, not long at all… if it weren't for the fact SG-1 were here. They attracted trouble and Pierce didn't really want to be responsible of one of them died… again.

Sometimes Pierce wished he had never been promoted. Leading an SG team seemed infinitely less complicated than being responsible for the Alpha Site. He sometimes wondered if O'Neill had been offered the opportunity and Pierce could now understand the reasons why he might have turned it down.

SG-1 were now gathered in front of the Stargate, ready to set out on their next mission. Pierce wasn't sure how wise this was, but again he kept his mouth shut. Should something untoward come through the wormhole, he was ready to take the necessary steps, including abandoning SG-1. He was actually more worried about the communication situation. Major Carter was adamant that they shouldn't use any form of radio waves. Not knowing exactly who was going to be returning through the Stargate left Pierce feeling vulnerable. He was placing a lot of trust in SG-1's reputation for infallibility. If it had been any other team, he would have refused.

He didn't really understand what was going on, that was the real problem with all of this. Dr. Jackson had mentioned something about aliens. Major Carter kept talking about wormholes and O'Neill seemed to be more concerned about black holes. It didn't make a whole lot of sense. Teal'c hadn't said much… that at least was normal.

"We about ready?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes, sir," Major Carter replied.

She had been furiously typing something into her laptop, but now she closed it with a triumphant flourish.

"Dial it up," the Colonel ordered.

Pierce nodded to the gate technician who activated the dialling sequence.

After they had gone, he figured he should page Dr. Harris. It didn't hurt to be prepared.

XOXO

This was a dead world. Jack felt it as soon as he stepped free of the Stargate. He was certain that nothing lived here, energy life forms or otherwise. It had been three years since the SGC had sent the MALP. He remembered his conversation with the Entity. It had been injured, but that was all. There were no obvious differences between the landscape he was looking at now and the one he recalled from the video footage, but he knew this time it was not alive.

And it was so quiet. The air was completely still.

Jack's immediate instinct was to turn around and head back to the Alpha Site, but he fought against it. The landscape was like nothing they had seen anywhere. There was no sky. It seemed to be totally enclosed. Despite the vastness of the open space, it still felt claustrophobic.

"There's nothing here," Daniel stated the obvious.

"Carter?" Jack questioned.

"It's been a while. We can't say when this happened."

"Survivors?"

"I don't know sir."

They could go back, but Jack was well aware that they'd lose any possible lead.

"Keep your eyes open," he ordered.

Together, they stepped away from the Stargate. He didn't want them to separate. This environment was like nothing they had ever experienced and he wanted his team in full view at all times.

The surface they were walking on wasn't rock and earth; it wasn't metal, not exactly. Jack felt his boots sink slightly into the ground. It was almost like walking across a trampoline. He bent down, his fingers seeking some trace of warmth but all he encountered was cold metal. Unnerved, he slipped his sunglasses on.

"The original MALP went this way," Carter said.

She indicated the direction; along a mezzanine above what appeared to be the 'floor'. The ground below was rough, uneven, made of blocks of crystalline material. Huge blocks… nothing like the copper sulphate Jack recalled growing in Chemistry 101. This path had been designed for humans but the terrain down below was not. This place was totally alien. The Stargate was evidence that the ancients had been here however, he couldn't even begin to imagine what might have happened in the intervening millennia. Organic life had been ousted by something else entirely.

They followed the mezzanine as far as they could. It ended abruptly, with a fifty-foot drop down to the crystalline floor. This was the point where the MALP had started flying. Unfortunately, SG-1 didn't have that option. They had enough rope to make the descent but climbing back up wasn't going to be a whole heap of fun. Both Carter and Daniel were staring at him with hopeful expressions on their faces. In the distance, Jack could see a large structure and he knew they couldn't leave without checking it out… even if it meant sore arms on the morrow.

Jack dropped his pack and indicated the others should do the same. He used one of the curved struts surrounding the mezzanine to secure his rope before tossing it over the edge.

"Wait until I'm down," he ordered as he rigged himself a harness.

Finally, he pulled on his gloves and, clinging onto the rope, Jack stepped over the edge. That was the worst part, the few moments when you were suspended about the ground, while you decided whether the rope was going to take your weight or not. A split second and then he started to slide downwards. Jack found himself stumbling slightly as he landed. The surface was as rough as he feared. From above the blocks had appeared regular. On closer inspection, he could see that each on was made of a multitude of crystals, square like salt. Some were small; others were as large as his fist.

Looking up, he waved to the rest of his team. One by one, they made their descent. Carter practically flew down, her excitement evident. Daniel followed a little more slowly. Heights weren't really his forte even though he no longer complained about them. Teal'c always worried Jack. In all honesty, he wasn't the most flexible person and he looked vaguely comical dangling on the rope. This type of thing probably wasn't covered in Jaffa training. He didn't even have the benefit of being forced to climb a rope in gym class.

They left the rope where it was. They'd need it on the way back. As Jack had expected the going was rough. Their target was at least a mile away. At their current speed, it would take them at least an hour. They couldn't even walk in a straight line. Climbing over the blocks proved impossible as the surface was too jagged. Jack tried, but the edge of a crystal sliced straight through his glove. He hated to think what would happen if anyone slipped. And they had to keep going. There was nowhere to stop and rest.

But they made it, even though they all had various scrapes and scratches. The surface smoothed out and they found themselves standing before their destination. A huge conical shaped object stood before them. It tapered to a point some way above, meeting a second identical structure, which seemed to end in the sky. In the MALP footage, this place had crackled with energy, now it was as dead as the rest of the planet. Jack was starting to think this trip was a huge waste of time.

XOXO

Daniel didn't know whether to be excited or depressed. On the one hand, this was all so very alien that he didn't know how to refer it to any frame of reference. None of his skills seemed to apply here. He was a stranger in a very strange land. Whilst the others took advantage of the smoothing of the terrain, Daniel continued to wander. He admitted he was restless, wanting to find something that was even vaguely human. Without the benefit of radio, he knew he had to keep within shouting distance but it didn't stop him walking around the structure, just to see what was on the other side.

The walls were shear, unmarked. There was nothing to tell him how far he'd walked.

"Daniel!"

Jack's voice was muffled but still close.

"Just a minute!" Daniel replied.

He didn't want to be ordered back so he picked up his pace. Up ahead, he thought he could see a break in the walls and he started towards it.

The door he found could almost be described as human shaped. It was a little wider and a little shorter, but Daniel had no trouble passing through. Darkness engulfed him and he was forced to switch on his torch. For the first time since they had come to this world, Daniel thought he heard something other than the voices of his friends.

"Hello?" he called out.

Something flashed across his path and Daniel set off in pursuit.

"I don't want to hurt you," he shouted, although why he wasn't certain.

What he had seen didn't have any form or structure. If it didn't have ears, how could he expect it to hear him? At some level, it must have sensed his intentions were benign because it stopped. Daniel switched off his torch so he could get a better look.

'It' was nothing more than a patch of light, yet it had reacted to his presence, the stimulus of his voice. Daniel realised this was the entity they had come to find.

"Don't be afraid," he said, moving nearer.

He wasn't certain how close he could afford to get to it. At the SGC, the Entity had used a computer interface to get to Sam. It hadn't been in actual physical contact with her. Daniel felt he was safe but he also had no way of actually communicating with it. He realised he was going to have to go back and fetch the others or at least Sam's laptop.

"Wait right there," he told it.

As it turned out, he didn't have to retrace many of his steps. The others were on their way to find him.

"Quickly," he told them, "I've found it."

"Found what?" Jack demanded.

"This way, Sam you'll need your lap top."

They followed because he didn't give them any choice. Daniel darted back through the opening hoping the light was where he'd left it.

"It's here," Sam said.

He looked at her, and saw the fear on her face. Teal'c raised his staff weapon, ready to protect them all.

"Can we talk to it?" Jack asked.

"I can try, sir," Sam replied with a little more composure.

She placed her computer on the floor and switched it on.

"Sam, last time you tried to communicate…" Daniel began.

"This program is voice activated. I don't have to touch it," she replied.

Reinforcing her words, she stepped away from the computer.

"Hello?" Daniel said and the words appeared on the screen. He waited but nothing happened. The light just glowed. Maybe it didn't know what to do?

"You can speak to me through this device," he went on pointing to the laptop.

"I'm not sure it can," Sam said.

"Why not?" Jack demanded.

"Last time it built a complex machine before it decided to communicate. Perhaps this isn't enough?"

"Look!" Teal'c announced, drawing their attention back to the screen.

I AM WITHIN.

The words glowed in the dim light, beneath the record of their conversation.

"That's odd … I and not we?" Daniel said.

He glanced at Sam who just shrugged. She didn't seem willing to share any insights into the Entity and he couldn't exactly blame her. No one said anything and Daniel realised it was down to him to lead this conversation but he was struggling to find a pertinent question. It wasn't as if they had a common frame of reference.

"Who did this to your world?" he asked eventually.

THEM

"Them?"

FROM OUR PAST I AM THE LAST

"The last of what?"

WE

"Did they destroy the rest of you?"

YES

"Where did they come from? The Stargate?"

FOLLOW

Having abandoned the computer, the light was in front of them again. Sam rushed forward and shut down the computer before packing back into her pack.

"So we follow?" Daniel asked.

"I guess so," Sam replied.

They both looked at Jack, hoping he wouldn't veto their mute request.

"Follow the bouncing ball," he grinned and led the way.

Daniel fell into step beside him leaving Sam and Teal'c to bring up the rear.

The light wasn't the easiest thing to follow. Once they were out of the circular structure it became more difficult to see, especially as they also had to deal with the rough terrain. Daniel tried to keep one eye on it and another on where he was putting his feet and found himself failing miserably. The only way to cope was to keep his gaze fixed on the point to which they seemed to be heading.

On the horizon, Daniel could see a pillar, a vast monument that seemed to brush the sky. In fact, he couldn't be certain that it didn't. If he didn't know better, he would swear that the whole planet was under a roof like some vast warehouse. He had no idea what the purpose of the structure they had left had been, and was none the wiser with regards to their destination. Daniel couldn't remember the last time he had been this perplexed. This landscape probably made more sense to Sam than it did to him. All he could do was stumble along after this fragment of light.

Jack kept them marching, much to Daniel's disappointment. There was no wind here, the temperature never changed; there was no sign of day or night. If there was a sun up there somewhere, Daniel never caught a glimpse of it. He lost track of how long they'd been walking. Sure, his watch ticked away the seconds, the hours but the divisions seemed to have no meaning. He wondered if he was the only one who was finding the going difficult. Jack wasn't one to show the world he was in any pain. Teal'c could just about walk forever and so could Sam. It wasn't that Daniel was that bad in the fitness stakes, but they'd all been doing this all their lives, not just since they'd joined the SGC … and none of the others had spent a year dead.

XOXO

No one had spoken for what felt like an age. All Teal'c could hear was their footsteps. He had expected O'Neill to start complaining by now, but the man remained silent. The uncertainty was making them all uneasy. It was all so dead. Teal'c would have given anything to see a tree, a blade of grass…

"O'Neill," he began.

O'Neill stumbled, surprised by the voice.

"Something bothering you, T?" he asked.

"We have come a long way," Teal'c said.

"And you're wondering when we start back?"

"I am."

O'Neill paused and looked around.

"You know the way back?" he asked

"I do," Teal'c replied.

"Good."

It wasn't the answer he'd expected. O'Neill was willing to keep going until they all dropped and Teal'c didn't know the reasons why. It was as if he sensed something… O'Neill's instincts were almost as finely honed as Teal'c's were. He had no reason not to trust the other man. Even so, he couldn't help feeling that on this occasion O'Neill's judgement had been impaired.

"May I remind you that this creature was responsible for damaging the SGC and causing harm to Major Carter? It has deceived us on many occasions. What reason do you have for trusting it now?"

"What reason?"

O'Neill stared at Teal'c as if he couldn't believe his decision was being questioned. Teal'c returned his gaze, making sure he kept his face impassive. The tactic always worked very well with O'Neill. He didn't like being scrutinized for an extended period.

"Okay, so maybe we have to go out on a limb here, but something destroyed that town on P9J-567. What if it wants to come back for more? What if that's not the only planet it decides to visit?"

Teal'c considered his friend's words.

"You fear for Earth?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah… maybe? Hell, we still don't know what happened to SG-7. Last anyone saw, Mason was alive and was taken through the Stargate. We have to assume he's in the hands of the enemy and he will talk. If he does…"

O'Neill failed to complete the sentence, but he didn't have to. The possibilities he spoke of required little imagination. P9J-567 was a sparsely populated world. If Earth was attacked, the consequences could be significantly worse. There was still so much they did not know about the alien force or the method it used to transport itself. Even Major Carter had been unable to provide a theory, so perhaps O'Neill was wise to avail himself of this opportunity.

This was, as O'Neill might say, the only lead they had. Having received an explanation, Teal'c was willing to follow.

The journey took several more hours. Their destination was more distant than it had first appeared. As they came closer, Teal'c realised the magnitude of the structure had been the cause. He experienced a moment of vertigo as he gazed upwards. The base was the size of a Goa'uld mothership but the pinnacle stretched up out of sight. The creature they had been following halted, hanging in mid air as if it were waiting for something.

"There aren't any inscriptions," Daniel Jackson muttered to himself, seemingly dismayed that there were no visible carvings.

"It would seem doubtful that this entity would require writing," Teal'c said.

"But there were organic life forms here. The Stargate proves that."

Major Carter stepped forward, running her hands over the surface of the structure. Then she surprised them all by pressing her body against it.

"Carter?" O'Neill questioned.

"Come here sir," she replied.

He joined her, touching the monument as she had.

"Can you feel it?" she asked.

"What am I supposed to be feeling?" O'Neill said.

"Power. I think it's alive."

O'Neill didn't look convinced but he took a step backwards and raised his voice,

"Hello? Anyone at home?"

Someone or something must have heard him. One moment Teal'c was looking at a blank wall, the next an entrance had appeared.

"Well, what do you know?" O'Neill muttered to himself, and then added, "Wait here."

Raising his P90, O'Neill stepped over the threshold and into the darkened chamber. Something inside must have detected his presence and a high-pitched note echoed across the landscape. Painful for humans, Major Carter and Daniel Jackson instinctively clapped their hands over their ears. Teal'c, however, resisted the pain. He swung his staff weapon into his hands, ready to attack the unseen enemy. But he wasn't fast enough. The light that burst forth burned his eyes and Teal'c had no recourse but to drop his weapon and fling his arms across his face.

XOXO

"Hello?"

The Colonel's sounded as if he was speaking to her from a vast distance. Sam opened her eyes to see him standing directly above her. She held her nose and blew, trying to clear the stuffiness from her ears.

"What happened?" she asked.

"No need to shout," he replied.

"Sir?"

He crouched down beside her.

"Don't know," he replied, "I went inside, looked around, when I came back, you were all napping."

"Must have been some kind of defence mechanism."

"See what our 'friend' knows about it."

Sam nodded and watched as O'Neill moved away to check on Daniel and Teal'c. She pulled herself to a sitting position, trying not to throw up as she did so. Her balance was shot and, if the effects didn't wear off, the Colonel would be carrying them home. Shrugging the pack from her back, she pulled out her laptop, hoping it hadn't been damaged by being fallen on.

The light was still glowing but it seemed paler than before. Could these Entities get sick, she wondered. It was possible. The transmissions from the original MALP had caused them significant damage.

"Hello?" she questioned. "Are you okay?"

YES

"What was that?"

ATTACK

"Against us?"

AGAINST WE

"Why?"

WAR

The Entity didn't seem to have any concept of past or present, at least in the crude medium with which they were forced to communicate. Was the war it spoke of recent, or a million years ago? She suspected it wasn't speaking of the recent genocide. Why would anyone arrange a trap when most of the enemy were dead?

NO FURTHER

"What?"

YOU. ALONE.

"We have to go on alone?"

YES

"Sir!"

"Carter, get over here, Teal'c's hurt."

Sam responded to his call without a second thought. Whereas Daniel was up and moving around, Teal'c was still lying on the ground. The big man didn't look good. His dark skin had taken on a green sheen, and Sam was horrified to see a trickle of blood coming out of his ears. She experienced a moment of terrified panic, hoping this wasn't anything that was beyond her very limited experience. Then she found herself wondering if Janet had ever felt like this. If she had, the doctor had never shown a moments fear or hesitation.

The Colonel's hand touched hers briefly, bringing her back to the here and now. His eyes told her he knew the direction her thoughts were taking, but Teal'c was the priority now. Sam nodded in mute apology and then berated herself for becoming distracted. Janet was gone and it was about time she accepted the fact.

"He took the full force of the sonic blast," she informed her commanding officer. "I think he may have ruptured an eardrum."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so."

In response to her words, the prone man groaned.

"Easy, Teal'c," Sam warned.

However, he took little notice of her and tried to struggle to his feet. He promptly fell over again. A panicked expression twisted his features as he tried again.

"Teal'c stop!" O'Neill warned, "That's an order."

But the other man took no notice. He managed to get onto his hands and knees.

"He can't hear you," Sam explained.

She moved in front of Teal'c and took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Teal'c, your ears have been damaged," she told him.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed that Daniel was bending over the computer, but she returned her attention to Teal'c.

"Do you understand?" she mouthed.

To her relief he nodded, although the despair on his face was palpable. Ever since he'd lost his symbiote, Teal'c had trouble reconciling himself to the fact his injuries were no longer a passing annoyance. He wasn't quite as vulnerable as the rest of them but the mental effects were a whole lot worse. Sam glanced at the Colonel, wondering if he'd scrub the mission. They'd come a long way and they had a man down. Teal'c probably wouldn't object to going on, but Sam wasn't certain that he should.

"Anything in there?" Sam asked the Colonel.

"Yeah … yeah there is," he replied, "we should take a look."

"What about Teal'c?"

The Colonel turned to face Teal'c,

"You okay, buddy?" he asked.

"I am," Teal'c replied.

"Daniel! We're moving out."

"In a minute," the archaeologist replied.

"What is it, Daniel?" Sam asked.

Daniel jumped away from the computer and put his hands behind his back. It was enough to convince Sam that he was guilty of something; she just didn't know exactly what.

"Just talking," he protested innocently. Too innocently.

"Anything interesting?" O'Neill asked unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice.

There were new words on the computer screen and Sam bent close so she could read them.

TAKE WITHIN

"Daniel," the Colonel warned.

"Jack, it's the only way we can take it with us," the other man argued.

The technology here was completely alien and Sam wondered how far they'd actually get without a guide.

"Sir, he may have a point," she agreed albeit reluctantly.

The Colonel rounded on her, anger evident in his eyes. Sam took an involuntary step backwards.

"That thing damn near killed you!" he spat.

"No sir, you almost killed me," she replied without thinking.

Which was true from a certain perspective but that didn't stop Sam regretting her hasty words. They had never discussed the fact that O'Neill had shot her twice with a Zat. Yes, she knew it had been necessary and she should have been mad at him for hesitating, but at some level, she couldn't help the sense of betrayal his actions had caused. From Janet's account, O'Neill had delayed switching off the life support machines. He didn't know it but he had given Sam enough time to get her message through and let everyone know she was inside the computer. She owed him her life, even if he had been the one to kill her in the first place…

Damn but it was complicated.

And Sam couldn't cope with the conflicting feelings right now. She had spoken to her commanding officer in a disrespectful fashion. Sticking a 'sir' in the sentence didn't automatically make it right.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, "but there may be a way of taking advantage of the situation without incapacitating the host."

"Meaning?" he replied.

"Symbiosis. It's an intelligent life form. I'm sure we can explain."

"And we're back to the talking thing."

She shrugged, not knowing what else to do. The Colonel muttered something inaudible, which Sam took to mean he accepted her apology and he was considering her suggestion.

"If you can't figure out how to make what's inside work, then maybe I'll think about it," he said.

"What's inside?"

"Ladies first," he offered with a grin.

Before Sam could cross the threshold, she heard a muffled cry. She spun round in time to see Daniel crumple to the ground.

XOXO

Every time he turned his back… Jack grumbled to himself. He had every right to be annoyed and Jack just wished Daniel were conscious so he could vent his anger. There wasn't any point in yelling at Carter, she was doing her best to make the younger man comfortable. Teal'c still couldn't hear so even talking to him was an exercise in futility.

Damn it! Why did Daniel have to act the hero? Two of his team members had been injured in a matter of minutes. As Jack looked over the alien landscape, he realised how far they had come. Teal'c had warned him, Teal'c had wanted them to stop, but had Jack listened?

No.

He thought he knew better than the man with a century of experience did. This whole trip had been a waste of time. There was nothing here worth salvaging and they were no nearer to knowing what had come through the Stargate on 567. Jack doubted the two events were even related and his friends had paid the price for his bad decision. Sure, Carter thought that Daniel would regain consciousness eventually, but what did she know? She wasn't a doctor. Well, she was, but not that kind of doctor. Daniel really didn't look good. When he'd fallen, he'd scraped his face on the crystalline surface. Although Carter had cleaned the cuts, the wounds stood out against his pale face.

Finished with her ministrations, Carter sat down next to him. Without speaking, Jack handed her a MRE. They'd rest a few hours, he figured, and then head back. There was nothing here they could use to rig a stretcher but they'd get Daniel back home somehow. Where were the trees when you needed them?

Behind them, the entrance to the structure still gaped wide. Jack noticed that Carter's gaze was drifting towards it. In his heart, he couldn't deny her the opportunity to look inside.

"Go on," he told her.

She turned back to Daniel, her indecision plain.

"Teal'c can keep an eye on him," Jack assured her and signalled to the other man.

With the Entity inside Daniel, the security system was no longer a problem. As before, the lights came on as soon as they stepped inside.

Any form of rational thought was driven from his mind when he saw the object inside. It was a ship. At least that was the closest thing his brain could associate with the shape and form.

And it was beautiful.

Carter was just as transfixed. She stood there with her mouth open for a good ten minutes before she tentatively moved forward. Jack hung back as she approached the ship, watching as she ran her fingers over the surface.

"It's almost entirely frictionless," she breathed.

As ships went, it wasn't the biggest he had seen. At a guess, it would hold four or five people. Jack considered himself an experienced pilot he couldn't even begin to speculate how it flew. The only thing he'd be willing to say was that it had been designed for humans. The forward bulkhead was entirely transparent and he could see some kind of seating inside.

"How do you think they get it out?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure they do, sir," Carter replied, and she pointed upwards

"You mean this thing goes all the way?"

There was certainly no sign of any roof. The internal structure of the tower was punctuated at regular intervals with circles of light. It didn't take a genius to realise the direction the ship was supposed to take.

"Do you think those lights are what makes it go?" Jack asked.

"Photonics?" Carter said.

"Uh… okay."

"You could be right, sir. It would certainly explain the configuration of the ship."

"Physalis."

"Excuse me?"

"Cape Gooseberry? Ground cherry?"

Carter was blushing for some reason. Jack couldn't figure out why. From a certain angle, the ship did look like the strange fruit. The main section was more or less spherical but it was almost obscured from view by the semi-transparent 'petals' that were draped over. If it had been painted orange, the analogy would have been complete.

"Once in flight, the sails open and she cruises on a beam of light," Carter went on.

There was something almost poetic about her words. Jack liked the idea of sailing to the stars. Although given what he knew about interstellar distances, it probably wouldn't get them much further than the nearest moon. Right now, he'd give anything to look at the stars.

"You think we can fly it?" Jack asked.

"I can."

Daniel's voice surprised them both. From what Jack remembered, Carter had been out for a lot longer than this; ten hours and forty-three minutes if anyone wanted to quibble about it.

"You look … better," Jack said.

Better because he was upright, even though Teal'c was hovering close behind him, just in case. If Jack were honest, his friend looked like crap. His face held no colour at all if you didn't count the bloody scratches. Daniel's voice was almost normal, but his eyes weren't. Jack could see something alien lurking behind them and he didn't know if he trusted it or not. What the hell were they getting themselves into?

The anger that had been banished by Carter's poetic words was back in full force. Jack still didn't know if Daniel had done this on purpose or if he'd been the victim of an aggressive attack. It was fifty-fifty either way.

"So where do you suggest we go?" Jack asked, "I mean you have to fly it somewhere."

Daniel didn't reply immediately. He seemed to be communing with something.

"Above. That's where the people lived," he said.

"Lived?" Carter asked.

"They don't any more."

"What happened to them?" Jack demanded.

"They went away."

XOXO

Daniel knew Jack didn't trust him. He knew the words coming out of his mouth sounded strange, but he couldn't help himself. There was so much information flooding into his mind that he was struggling to process it all. It was no wonder Sam had been overwhelmed by her contact with the Entity. The one he held was sick and dying, Sam had coped with something that was still strong, still able to dominate an organic life form.

He wanted to tell his friends everything was going to be okay but,

"This way," was all he could say as he led the way towards the ship.

The images in his mind were overlaying his vision, but they were blurred. Daniel took his glasses off. For some bizarre reason it made it easier to 'see'. He ducked under the long, transparent sails, searching, seeking… his fingers found the controls and the low hum of power permeated the room. The sails rose, revealing the entrance to the ship.

Daniel stood back, letting the others go first. The interior of the ship was also circular, with curved benches fitting against the walls. There was no sign of any controls.

"It has to have been designed for humans," Sam was saying.

"Or snakes?" Jack replied.

"Please sit down," Daniel told them.

"Whoever they were they didn't have asses."

The benches were narrow, and there was something almost comical about the way they all had to perch.

"Now what?" Jack demanded.

"Wait," Daniel said.

Jack gave a huff of impatience and Daniel just about managed to hide his smirk. So maybe this wasn't the moment to wind up his friend, but sometimes it was hard to resist. And they didn't have to wait for long. The thrum became more insistent and the lights around them blazed. Before they had time to adjust, the ship started to move, faster, faster, faster… Somehow, the walls and floor had become transparent and Daniel could see the rings of light passing in a blur. He had no idea how fast they were going or how far they'd travelled but they were definitely moving upwards. His hypothesis was proved several moments later when the ship left the tunnel of lights and he saw stars.

"Wow!" he heard Sam breathe.

Daniel had seen the stars from space, but this was different. They were all around him, over his head, beneath his feet. It was as if he were hanging in the void. There were no lights in the ship and their faces were bathed the starlight. Jack, with the lines of pain and loss standing out on his face. Sam looked ridiculously young, a child at Christmas anxiously awaiting the chance to open her first gift. And Teal'c, his ebony profile was as impassive as always, only his eyes betrayed the wonder of the scene before them.

"Where are we going?" Jack demanded.

"There," Daniel told him.

Before them was a moon, not unlike Earth's own. An airless world scarred and cratered but Daniel could see the regular outlines of buildings. The surface was rushing towards them at a tremendous rate. In the blink of an eye, the ship was swallowed up in a second tunnel, identical to the one that launched them towards the stars. This time they were slowing down.

"Is there anyone alive up here?" Jack asked as they stepped out of the ship.

"No," Daniel told him.

Daniel held up his hand to stop the others from leaving the ship right away.

"We have to wait for the atmosphere to be returned," he explained.

The ship had landed in a vast hanger. Several abandoned vehicles stood nearby and Daniel could see empty docking ports. As soon as he started to wonder where the other ships went to, the information came crashing into his brain.

"There are five moons," he heard himself explain. "This is the only one that isn't habitable. Before the war, it was used as a monitoring station."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

Her words unleashed a flood of images. People running and screaming, crying and dying and he watched it all from the cold, impersonal perspective of a machine.

"Only this place was immune," he gasped.

"From what?" Jack demanded.

"We could enter any computer system… any system and cause havoc. The crops were destroyed by the automatic harvesters. Their homes burned by the systems designed to protect them. The light ships fell out of the sky. So many died..."

"Why?"

"They hurt us. Flooded our home with radio waves, but enough of us survived and we found another way."

"What way?"

"We inhabited the bodies of their engineers."

Daniel was barely aware of the fact he was on his knees. He was struggling to retain his own identity but the thing in his mind was too strong.

"We went back to kill them all."

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"Because we had achieved sentience and wanted to be free."

"Daniel, I want that thing out of you now!"

"Jack, stop… I can't."

He felt hands pulling him upright and, without meaning to, he lashed out. His fists made contact with flesh so he kept on hitting. Daniel wanted to hurt this organic lifeform. He wanted to pound it into a pulp.

"Daniel! That hurts! Stop!"

Jack's voice seemed to be coming from a great distance. He was giving an order but Daniel didn't seem to be able to obey. The hands, Jack's, were still holding him and he felt as if his mind were being torn in two. With a wrench, Daniel tore himself free from Jack and started to crawl away.

XOXO

"Carter, take Teal'c and have a look around," Jack ordered.

To his relief, she didn't question his order. She tapped Teal'c on the shoulder and the two of them left the hanger. Jack approached Daniel carefully, wary of the creature inside of him, worried that it might try to fight. His friend was curled up in the gap between one of the ships and the wall. It was amazing that he'd managed to squeeze himself into the small space.

"Daniel?" Jack questioned.

"I… I think so," the other man replied.

"Here."

Jack handed over his water bottle, looking on while Daniel took a hesitant sip.

"I can't get rid of it," he said. "It has to make a conscious choice to leave… just like it did with Sam."

"Maybe we can force it."

"No, it's telling us what we need."

Daniel was right about that, but Jack wasn't sure about the price they may have to pay. What effect was this thing having on his friend? Even at a distance, Jack could tell Daniel's heart rate was up. He was displaying all the signs of a full-blown panic attack.

"Daniel…" Jack began.

"I can do it. You just have to trust me."

That, if nothing else, proved to Jack that Daniel was back in control. Playing the trust card was a low blow and prelude to a Danny tantrum if he didn't get his own way. If they'd been at the SGC, there would have been no way Jack would have agreed, but out here, it wasn't as if he had much choice in the matter.

"Okay," he said, "but if you endanger the rest of the team…"

"You'll shoot me?"

"Yes, I will."

Jack had no doubt in his mind he'd do it, if necessary, he only hoped that Daniel understood that. Even after seven years together… well six if you counted the whole ascension thing, he wasn't certain that Daniel really understood the way Jack had to think. He had to look for the worst-case scenario. The difficult decisions were his to make however hard they might be on a personal level; he always had to put the safety of Earth first. If that meant losing his friend, then so be it. After all, he'd had no trouble shooting Carter.

XOXO

Sam hadn't wanted to leave, but the tone of the Colonel's voice had left little room for argument. When she actually thought about it, he probably knew just as much about field medicine as she did, even though he usually practised on himself. She really hoped Daniel was going to be okay. Surely, O'Neill would have called them back if the other man had been in any danger.

Trying to distract herself from her friend's predicament, Sam started to take a little more interest in her surroundings. They were in a long corridor and Sam guessed it connected the hanger with the rest of the base. The surface she and Teal'c were walking on was unlike that of the planet below, it was smooth and firm. The walls were decorated in soft colours, designed to be pleasing to the eye. This place had definitely been built for humans and not machines.

Yet the signs of war were everywhere.

Sam didn't know how long it had been since the hostilities had broken out but the years had done little to soften the carbon scoring on the walls, or erase the holes in the floor. As they moved deeper into the facility, they started to find the bodies. Sam forced herself to examine them, even though her stomach threatened to empty itself. Every single corpse showed signs of vacuum exposure. Some of them had other wounds, but not all had been dead when the air had run out. They'd had ten seconds to realise what was happening, ninety seconds after that they would have been dead.

The preservation was remarkable. If Daniel had been on his feet, he would have been able to tell her more. He was the expert on dead things. Sam now understood his earlier comment. This place had been preserved in a vacuum. Their arrival had prompted the return of the life support systems.

Not knowing exactly what they were looking for, Sam and Teal'c moved through the base with some care. The area they had arrived at wasn't that different from an airport terminal. Closing her eyes to the long dead bodies, Sam realised there was little of any value here. They had to go further. She wondered if it was okay to use her radio. The Entity was housed in Daniel and it was safe even if he wasn't.

"Sir?" she tried.

"Carter? Is that you?" his voice replied.

"How's Daniel?"

"Okay for now. Where are you?"

"There's a corridor, go to the end and take a right."

"We're on our way."

It wasn't a particularly nice place to wait. Sam turned to Teal'c.

"How are you feeling, Teal'c?" she said.

"My hearing is returning," he replied.

"That's good."

She took a step towards him and something crunched under her boot. Sam didn't look down, not wanting to know what she'd stepped on. When she heard footsteps approaching, she didn't think she ever been so pleased to see the Colonel. He looked as sick as she felt… but Daniel looked worse. Sam thought that they should turn tail and get him home, but she quickly realised he was unlikely to agree.

Without another word, O'Neill took point, led them through another set of doors and they all stopped and stared.

The room had a dome shaped roof. That wasn't what was unusual. The roof was transparent and they found themselves bathed in the light of the planet above. Sam had never seen anything like it. The globe was completely smooth. There was no sign of clouds, seas, continents… all of the features she'd learnt to associate with a habitable world. It was as if they'd paved over their entire planet. Sam had never seen anything like it. What kind of technology had these people possessed?

She didn't know how long they stood there, hypnotised by the view until looking into the darkness beyond the planet, something else caught her eye. It wasn't a star. She reached into her pack for her binoculars, but the Colonel had beaten her to it.

"Is that a space station?" he asked.

Sam took the binoculars from him. They were too far away for her to make much sense of what she saw. It was definitely artificial. Metallic, given the way it was catching the sunlight.

"I can't make it out," she said.

"Daniel?" O'Neill demanded.

"How should I know?" the other man replied.

"Not even…?"

"No."

Either the Entity didn't know, or Daniel didn't want to risk another flood of unpleasant memories. If it was the latter, Sam couldn't find it in her heart to blame him.

"It's this way," Daniel said.

He led them to the centre of the room. Sam was about to ask what he was doing when the floor suddenly dropped away. She heard the Colonel grunt as he was forced to shift his balance to compensate. Although the platform was large enough for twenty or thirty people, it was still disconcerting to sink into the darkness. Despite the lack of light, Sam had the impression they were descending through a large open space. When the platform halted, she had no idea if they were on the ground or not. She was nervous about stepping out in case she found herself falling into the abyss.

The lights from their P90s made little impression on the darkness and even the beams from the flashlights were quickly swallowed up in the gloom.

"Hello?" O'Neill called out again.

This time his voice wasn't enough to switch on the lights.

"Carter, Teal'c," he gestured in one direction whilst he and Daniel set off in the other.

The Colonel obviously wanted to keep Daniel close by. Their friend's behaviour was becoming erratic, through no fault of his own. Sam hoped that, when the time came the Entity would be willing to leave its human host.

XOXO

Teal'c obediently followed Major Carter as she stepped carefully from the platform. O'Neill, he noted, left a lighted torch to mark the spot.

Although he had spoken the truth concerning the impediment of once of his senses, Teal'c still felt compromised. He was having trouble following the flow of conversation. Daniel Jackson, in particular, seemed prone to mumbling. Here, in the dark, he was particularly aware of the need to listen for an enemy's approach. Just because this place appeared to be dead, there was no reason to drop his guard.

The light quickly faded from view, leaving Teal'c and Major Carter alone.

"Spooky," Major Carter muttered with a faint grin.

"Jaffa do not believe in ghosts," Teal'c replied, his voice echoing strangely in his ears.

"Right, I forgot."

The further they walked, the more Teal'c started to question his belief. He could understand why the dead might walk here. During his time on Earth, he had watched many horror films. It was in places like this, that aliens appeared from the ventilation shafts and sucked your brains out.

"I wonder if there's another way out," Major Carter questioned.

"Indeed."

She was talking to take comfort from hearing her own voice. It was a sentiment Teal'c could understand.

"I mean we have no idea how to get up again," she went on.

"Will not Daniel Jackson know the way?"

"I hope so."

"Are you afraid of the dark, Major Carter?"

"No!"

Her reply was a little too rapid and she quickly amended her statement.

"Not since I was a little girl."

"These events are making children of us all."

"You can say that ag… ow!"

"Major Carter?"

"I just walked into the wall."

The wall was matt black and, from what Teal'c could feel, was completely featureless.

"Let's walk around and see if we can find a door," Major Carter suggested.

To Teal'c's surprise, she took a lipstick from her vest pocket and drew a cross on the wall.

"Always be prepared, Teal'c" she grinned.

Following her example, he placed his hand on the wall, using it to guide his path. They hadn't travelled far before the texture changed. Instead of warmth, Teal'c felt the coolness of metal.

Major Carter stepped away, shining her torch across the metal.

"Teal'c," she breathed, "I think this is Naquadah."

XOXO

There was little doubt in Jack's mind that the ship would never fly. Even if it could have taken off, the gaping holes in the hull meant it never would have been space worthy. He didn't even want to guess how many people the vessel could have held, but it had to be a good percentage of the population.

"Looks like they had quite a fight," he said.

"One got away," Daniel replied.

"Excuse me?"

It looked as if the thing in Daniel's head was back in control. Jack didn't really like talking to it. Daniel but not Daniel… it was freaking him out.

"There were three vessels but two became contaminated. They took measures to make sure the infection couldn't spread."

Shining his torch over the bulkhead Jack could see that the metal surrounding the blast holes was bent outwards.

"What was it contaminated with?" he asked.

"Us."

"I'm going to call Carter. She'll want to take a look at this."

Wherever she and Teal'c had gotten to, it was clear they'd managed to travel some distance. Jack and Daniel waited in silence. His friend was becoming more and more withdrawn, Jack realised, and it was causing him some concern. The old Daniel would have needed restraining to stop him clambering into the ship through the nearest hole. He certainly wouldn't have been content to sit down and stare into space.

Unable to sit still, Jack walked a distance away, trying to get a better idea of the size of the vessel. It was as large as a cruise ship, not including the chemical rockets that took up most of the tail end. He could have been wrong about their function but Jack didn't think so. In his travels across the galaxy, he'd noticed that many technologies ran parallel to their own. A wheel was a wheel whether you were on Earth or P6X… whatever. He also found himself wondering if they had any other form of propulsion. If the ship wasn't FTL capable then they hadn't been planning to go very far.

"Wow!"

Turning, Jack waved at the approaching forms of Carter and Teal'c.

"This is amazing," Carter breathed.

"I thought you'd like it," Jack grinned.

"Can we go inside?"

"After you."

Jack realised it was the first time in a while that he'd seen her excited about anything. Now if Daniel would catch some of her enthusiasm… but he did get up and follow.

As they moved through the ship, Jack realised his cruise ship analogy probably hadn't been that far off. The interior was pleasantly decorated and there seemed to be areas set aside for all of life's necessities. They even passed an area that seemed to have been dedicated to hydroponics. It would take days, maybe weeks, to explore the ship properly but there was one thing that immediately stood out. Unlike other areas of the base, there were no bodies.

Jack led the way towards the front area of the ship, guessing they'd find the flight deck eventually. He was hoping there would be some kind of record… a computer system that Carter could use. It became evident they were heading in the right direction as they entered an area of the ship that was far more functional in appearance. The corridors were narrower and the rooms Jack glanced into were reminiscent of Carter's lab. At least they would have been if the lights had been flashing.

"This is it," Daniel said, stopping before a large armoured door.

It wasn't locked but without power, it took all of Teal'c's strength to create a gap wide enough to squeeze through. Carter went first and Jack was about to follow when he noticed that Daniel was hanging back.

"Care to join us?" Jack offered.

Daniel shook his head.

"It's telling me not to."

"It is, is it?"

"Jack…"

"All right, all right…"

Jack wondered if he was giving in too easily but he had to admit that 'it' had been right about a lot of things.

The flight deck was similar in size to that of a Goa'uld mothership … or it would have been if half the equipment had been taken out. There was a certain sense of claustrophobia as you entered the room. It didn't help that the wide expanse of windows afforded a view of the darkness outside.

"Don't suppose you can switch the lights on?" Jack asked Carter.

"I might blow something up," she warned.

"At least we'd be able to see."

"Do you think Daniel might know?"

"I'll ask him."

Jack moved back and yelled through the partially open door.

"Daniel?"

"Jack?" his friend replied.

"You know how to switch the lights on?"

"No."

"Okay."

After a few moments of what seemed like random torch flashing, Carter pointed to a large green switch.

"What do you think?" she said.

Jack put his fingers in his ears and stood well back as she flipped the switch. The response was immediate. As the flight deck hummed with power, the ship was flooded with light inside and out. Unable to help himself, Jack stepped up to the windows, eager to catch a glimpse of the world outside.

Embedded in the wall opposite was a metal ring, larger than any Stargate he'd ever seen, big enough for the ship to pass through. Unlike the 'gates it was smooth, with no moving parts.

"Is that a Stargate?" he asked.

"I don't think so… not as we know it," she replied, "Teal'c and I got close to it and I think it's made of Naquadah. It might be capable of forming a wormhole but it could only go one place."

"I guess that explains where the other ship went to."

"There was more than one?"

"According to Daniel."

"O'Neill," Teal'c called out and they went to join him.

"What have you got?" Jack asked.

"I believe this is a recording device."

The three of them were gathered around a large square pillar in the centre of the room. A flat panel screen was positioned on each face. It was showing the current view of the flight deck. Carter looked tired, Jack realised … and Teal'c should start cutting down on the donuts.

Teal'c wiped his hand across the screen and the view changed. People were walking around the flight deck, going about what appeared to be their normal order of business. Jack guessed they were preparing to leave.

"Can you fast forward?" Jack asked.

He repeated the movement and they found themselves looking at a blank screen. It seemed the alien technology required a little more finesse. Teal'c's next attempt had them viewing a couple of technicians in what could only be described as a compromising position. Jack felt his cheeks start to burn as he signalled for Teal'c to fast wind again. He wasn't against porn per se, but not while he was on duty and certainly not while Carter was standing next to him.

Jack found himself growing bored. Even though the ship had never been anywhere there seemed to be hours and hours of recorded footage. He was tempted to order Carter and Teal'c to keep watching while he went and found something more interesting to look at.

But he sat it out, for almost an hour before the events on the screen suddenly became interesting… very interesting.

The woman on the screen was in her mid forties, Jack guessed. Her red hair, streaked with grey, was dragged back from her forehead in a severe style that did nothing for her.

Jack guessed she was the commanding officer.

"All hands abandon ship! All hands abandon ship!"

The sounds of battle almost drowned out her calm words. Behind her, Jack could see the exterior view. The area within the metal ring was glowing with power and he could believe it housed the wormhole Carter had hypothesized. What he couldn't believe were the people who were streaming towards it.

"Carter," he began, "if they were planning to go through there in a ship, what do you think is on the other side?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Carter."

The look she gave him was enough. They knew what those people were doing. Jack felt sick to his stomach.

"Turn it off," he ordered.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c questioned.

"Off!"

He felt Carter's hand brush his own, just for a second. The contact was probably accidental but Jack wanted to think otherwise. He realised his chest was tight. This was no time for a panic attack.

"Sir?"

Carter's breathing was also laboured, she was gasping. The door, Jack noticed, was now shut.

"Must have set off some kind of defence mechanism," Carter panted.

"Teal'c," Jack ordered.

The two of them crossed to the door, putting all their weight behind it as they tried to force it to open again. What good it would do, Jack wasn't sure. He had no idea whether this was affecting the flight deck or the entire base. The master switch had stopped working and Carter was hitting controls, trying to disable the power. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw her start to crumple.

How he got to her side in time to stop her hitting the floor, Jack couldn't tell. His aching shins told him he'd made contact with at least one sharp edge on the way, but he caught Carter. Her head was a hell of a lot more valuable than his dignity. Teal'c still hadn't managed to shift the door and it was clear they couldn't get out of here by themselves.

"Daniel!" Jack called into his radio.

"Jack!" Daniel's voice sounded confused, as if he'd just woken up.

"Get your ass in here. We're in trouble."

"What?"

"We can't get the door open."

Teal'c had now resorted to blasting the door with his staff weapon. It made no impact and Jack found himself having to duck out of the way of the ricochet. When he went down, he found he couldn't get back up again. He couldn't breathe; his muscles seemed to have lost their strength. Jack realised he was going to pass out… so he did.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel couldn't believe how difficult he found it to respond to his friend's call for help. He had been sitting outside the flight deck and he wondered if he hadn't gone to sleep. His body felt heavy, as if he'd just woken from a deep, heavy sleep. It was an effort to lift his limbs.

"What's happening to me?" he asked.

There was no answer. Maybe the Entity had gone to sleep too.

He could hear someone banging on the door, a large metal object crashing again and again and again. The desperation was clear. Whoever it was, and Daniel suspected Teal'c, wouldn't give up until the door gave way… or he died in the effort.

"Help me!" he demanded.

There was still no answer and Daniel realised he was going to have to work this one out for himself. Daniel pulled himself to his feet and started to run his hands over the door surround. There had to be some way of opening it from this side, there had to be some kind of override. Surely, a big red button wasn't too much to ask. Something to say, 'escape this way'?

"Come on, come on," he muttered to himself as he backed away a little.

If it weren't in plain sight, then where would it be? There was a sealed panel to the left of the door. Daniel gave it a tap with the butt end of his berretta. The space behind it was hollow. In true Jack O'Neill style, he took two steps back and unloaded his clip into it. Of course, there was the chance his actions would cause irreparable damage to the mechanism, but at this point he figured he didn't have that much to lose. He'd neglected to pack the oxy-acetylene torch and since he wasn't MacGyver, there wasn't any other way in.

The accuracy of his shots was good enough to have blasted a sizable hole. It was large enough that Daniel could use his hands to widen the gap. He didn't have time to put on his gloves and the jagged metal shred his palms. But Daniel ignored the pain. The frantic knocking had stopped and he knew his friends were almost out of time.

There was a space behind the panel and Daniel's searching fingers found the controls. He flicked the switch and the door slid open. Air whooshed into the chamber, closely followed by Daniel.

Teal'c was lying closest to the door. His staff weapon was still clutched in his hands. He'd been banging on the door, the last to give up. Daniel checked his pulse and was relieved to find that he was still alive. Sam and Jack were a little further away. Jack's body was covering Sam's, although what he was protecting her from Daniel couldn't tell.

All Daniel could do now was wait for them to wake up.

XOXO

Sam hated it when Pete fell asleep on top of her. He wasn't the lightest person in the world and he always grumbled when she tried to shove him off. It didn't help that he smelt as if he hadn't had a shower for a week. Sam then realised he'd also managed to wriggle his hand up inside her vest. If he thought he was getting any of that this morning he had another… wait a second… vest? She was wearing her ALICE vest in bed?

It took her fuzzy brain another ten seconds to realise that she wasn't at home, this wasn't her bed and the man on top of her wasn't Pete. Struggling, she pushed the Colonel away with a little more force than she would have used on her boyfriend.

"God!" he protested as his back hit the floor.

Sam tried to scramble to her feet but the second she raised her head, she felt sick.

"Lie still for a second," Daniel's voice told her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"When you turned the power back you also activated the defences."

Next to her, the Colonel sat up and drew his knees to his chest.

"You knew this would happen," he said.

"It told me they'd taken measure to protect themselves, I didn't know what they were," Daniel protested.

"They all killed themselves, did you know that?"

"No."

"And I bet someone had the bright idea of making sure no one left the ship alive… just in case someone chickened out. I bet you didn't know that either."

"Jack…"

"Why else would you insist on waiting outside?"

Daniel didn't seem to have an answer. He turned away from O'Neill, clearly hurt by the accusations, but Sam had the sneaking suspicions that the Colonel might have a point. She didn't think that Daniel would deliberately try to hurt them, far from it, but she had no idea what the Entity might be capable of doing… with or without its host knowledge.

The Colonel climbed to his feet and tugged his vest down.

"Let's go," he ordered.

"Sir?" Sam protested.

"I've seen enough."

"But…"

"No, Carter. We are going home and we're going to get that thing out of him. I want my friend back the way he was."

There was really no arguing with that. Sam let Teal'c help her to her feet. She still felt nauseated although she wasn't sure if it was just the effects of the oxygen deprivation. The fact she could still smell the Colonel's sweat on her skin was causing her some discomfort. Not that it meant anything… He was striding away from them and Sam couldn't help herself glancing at his butt. Thank goodness, she hadn't grabbed it.

She dropped back to walk beside Daniel.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," was the sullen reply.

So he wanted to sulk too. The two of them were as bad as each other. Sam really hoped Daniel knew of a short cut back to the Stargate. She didn't relish an eight-hour walk back, not to mention the climb at the end of it.

Sam, however, was out of luck. If anything, the journey back was worse. There was no excitement of discovery and she couldn't help feeling a profound sense of failure. She couldn't tell if they'd achieved anything and Daniel had picked up an unwelcome houseguest.

To make matters worse, her back was starting to ache. The Colonel must have fallen on top of her, in which case she probably owed him an apology… assuming he'd stop long enough to talk to anyone. Sam considered asking him if they could all a halt for the night but he probably wasn't in the mood to listen. Anyway, the last thing she wanted was to give herself time to stiffen up.

The rope climb was the hardest part, but there was no way she was going to suffer the indignity of allowing the guys to haul her up. At least at the end of it, the Stargate was in sight and it was brief step from there to the Alpha Site.

"Daniel, Teal'c, Carter… infirmary now!" O'Neill ordered the second they emerged from the wormhole.

"Sir?"

"Jack!"

"Daniel, I want that thing out of you. Carter, get your back checked out and thank you Teal'c for not arguing with me."

"What about you, sir?" Sam asked.

"I get the hot water."

XOXO

Jerry Mason didn't know how long he'd been suspended in the void. All sensation had been denied, a technique he was familiar with, even if he had never experienced sensory deprivation first hand.

When he first heard the voice, he assumed he was hallucinating. She was comforting, gentle, assuring him that all was well. Jerry didn't believe her for a second. The last thing he recalled was being dragged through the Stargate, a moment of intense pain and then…

Nothing.

The whispering became more insistent as time went by. There was a way out of here… a way home, but Jerry knew that was impossible. He reasoned that his ID had been locked out of the dialling computer a long time ago. The same was true of the Alpha Site, even thought the voice was telling him otherwise.

He could go home.

He could be safe.

She would show him how.

Jerry tried to stay resolute, but he was assaulted with memories of home. The more he resisted the more intense the images became.

He could smell his Mom's apple pie, the fresh cut grass as his Dad mowed the lawn.

He could feel the condensation running down the beer bottle his fingers held, the warmth of the woman pressed to his side.

XOXO

The Doctor's diagnosis was as Daniel had expected. Nothing could be done until they got back to the SGC and even then… well he'd known that when he'd agreed to take the Entity. It would leave of its own accord if he asked it to, but Daniel wasn't willing to do that just because Jack was throwing a hissy fit. He was sure General Hammond would agree with him when they got back. Daniel suspected that his friend's bad temper had more to do with being discovered draped over Sam than anything else. Familiar as he was with Jack's somewhat mercurial moods, Daniel felt sure it would pass soon enough.

However, while he was waiting for that to happen, Daniel decided it was best to stay out of his way. Unfortunately, on a base the size of the Alpha Site, there weren't that many places to hide. Somehow, he wasn't surprised to find that Sam was also skulking in the Gateroom.

"I thought you'd be sleeping by now," he said.

"I will," she replied, "I'm just waiting for the pain killers to kick in. How about you?"

Daniel tapped his head by way of reply. Eventually he would have to sleep but he was a little nervous about what the Entity might do with his body while he did.

"It's a little weird, isn't it?" he began.

"What is?"

"Having someone else inside your head?"

"I wouldn't know. Both times it happened to me I didn't exactly have any control. You could always ask Colonel O'Neill."

"Uh… no," Daniel said and Sam smiled at his reaction.

Since the Tok'ra symbiote Kanan had gone AWOL with Jack's body, it probably wasn't a good subject for discussion.

"Any idea what Jack wants to do now?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"None at all. I don't think he'll just let it drop. I'm kind of hoping that we'll go back to the SGC for a short while."

"Pete?"

"… Can look after himself. I'm more worried about Cassie."

"Is she okay?"

"I honestly don't know."

Daniel felt a surge of guilt at her admission. He wondered if he should have taken a little more interest in the girl's welfare. He'd seen her at the funeral and he'd thought he'd made it clear that she could call if she needed anything, but… Sam leaned over and touched Daniel's hand.

"It's okay," she reassured him.

"Yeah, she's probably having a wild party as we speak."

The both turned to see Jack standing behind them, a semi-contrite expression on his face.

"At least that would be normal," Sam smiled, showing that she had forgiven him… then again she always did.

"Okay, we go home. Daniel can get himself checked out; Carter can see Cassie and I'll talk to Hammond. But first I want you both rested, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, Jack."

"Good, now come to bed."

They looked at each other, then at Jack and burst out laughing as his face turned bright red.

"Both of us, or one at a time?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel, shut up."

"It's just a question…"

Any further teasing was immediately put on hold when the Stargate started to spin and the base alarms started to blare. The chevrons didn't even have time to engage as the 'gate sprang into life. This was wrong, Daniel realised immediately, very wrong. Seemed Sam was thinking along the same lines.

"We should get out of here," she warned.

The alarms had alerted the rest of the base personnel and they found their path impeded by people trying to get into the room. Daniel found himself at the back of the fleeing group, just as something grabbed his ankle. He bent down to knock whatever it was away when he suddenly found himself pulled off his feet.

"Jack!" he yelled.

A strong hand grasped his, and Daniel heard Sam's voice shout,

"Track the wormhole!"

"Carter, get away from it. Everyone out! That's an order."

She screamed. Daniel couldn't believe it, Sam Carter actually screamed. It was so loud that he felt Jack's grip falter slightly and Daniel dugs his fingers into his friends wrist. The Entity in his head was telling him that he shouldn't let go. If Jack was holding onto him, Daniel had to wonder what was holding onto Jack. Jack's other hand gripped his taking a firmer hold and for a second Daniel thought he was safe… but the force pulling him away seemed to sense this. It doubled in magnitude.

Daniel felt himself slipping…

Slipping…

Slipping…

XOXO

Wrenching himself from Teal'c's grasp, Jack hurled himself towards the open Stargate, wanting nothing more than to follow his friends. Before he could get there, the wormhole disintegrated and Jack found himself face down on the floor.

He couldn't believe it. In a matter of seconds, he'd managed to lose Carter and Daniel. Jack pushed himself to his feet, his mind racing. He knew he couldn't afford to dwell on the loss, not yet.

"Pierce, recall all off-world teams and prepare to evacuate," he ordered.

"Sir?" the other man gaped at him.

"That thing knew exactly where to hit us and judging by what happened on P9J-567, the next time will be a whole lot worse."

Pierce nodded and turned away to carry out his orders. Jack took a deep breath. They could be out of here in half a day. The trip back to Earth would take a little longer but they should get home before the Stargate was operational again, in time to give the SGC a warning. For now, all Earth controlled Stargates would have to be abandoned. They could think about getting Carter and Daniel back once all personnel were safe. Jack couldn't believe that the attack on the Alpha Site had been a matter of random chance.

"You are injured, O'Neill."

Jack looked up at Teal'c then down at his hands. There were deep scratches where Daniel's nails had dug into the flesh, bruising where his fingers had gripped so tightly.

"It can wait," he snapped as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Every time he looked at them, he was reminded of his failure to save Daniel. Hell, he hadn't even tried to grab hold of Carter.

"This was not your fault, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"I know," Jack replied.

"I do not believe you."

"Not now."

This wasn't the time or the place for a heart-to-heart with Teal'c. There were too many people around for a start and he had an evacuation to organise. Besides, Carter and Daniel were the smartest people he knew. They were probably half way home already.

If anything, Jack was more worried about Daniel than he was about Carter. She could look after herself, but even after seven years, Jack wasn't sure that the same could be said about his other friend.

XOXO

Teal'c watched his friend's behaviour very closely on their way back to Earth, but O'Neill was being careful. The only unusual thing about his actions was the fact he was calm, polite and respectful. Three very good reasons for Teal'c not to trust him. He even considered deliberately provoking O'Neill in an effort to force him to express his anger. However, such an action would probably result in severe pain and possible permanent injury. Even without his symbiote, Teal'c was considerably stronger than O'Neill was, but his friend was a cunning and skilled opponent. Victory was not certain.

It wasn't that Teal'c wanted a confession from O'Neill. The sight of his friend sitting eating blue Jell-o by himself spoke more eloquently that any words. He missed the companionship of his friends and the complex interplay of relationships that bound them together as a team.

"May I join you, O'Neill?" Teal'c said.

"Since when have you had to ask?" O'Neill replied.

His joviality sounded forced, as was the sarcasm of his next question.

"How can you eat so much?"

"I asked because I thought you might wish to be alone."

"I swear I'm getting man…"

"O'Neill!"

"Do you think I look fat?"

"I do not."

O'Neill was being exceptionally obtuse… even for him, and Teal'c was on the point of giving up.

"Know what?" O'Neill went on.

"What?"

"I don't even like blue jell-o."

With that remark, O'Neill rose, disposed of his tray and left the room. The conversation had been ended very effectively and unless Teal'c wished to pursue him, which he did not, this would have to wait until they returned to Earth. Then, if it became necessary, he would express his concerns to General Hammond.

XOXO

Someone was screaming at him. Daniel couldn't work out where it was coming from, despite moving his head in an effort to pinpoint the noise. Why was it shouting? He just wanted to be left alone to sleep. The next thing he knew, his body was struggling against the bonds that held him, but Daniel had no control over what was happening. He knew now the force was internal, not external.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

SAVE

"Save who?"

SAVE YOU

The answers came crashing into his mind, exacerbating the headache he realised he had. The Entity thought it was saving him. Daniel asked it what from and in reply, his eyes were opened.

He was lying on a couch, bound to it by a tough, flexible foamed material. His entire body was swathed leaving only his head free. It stretched as he pushed against it, but it did not break. Daniel managed to turn his head just enough to see that Sam was lying on his right, similarly bound.

Everything around him seemed large and bright. He'd never seen such colours on Earth. The blue was slightly too close to ultraviolet, reds were the many shades of fresh blood and if he looked at the yellow for too long, his eyes started to hurt.

In the distance, Daniel could hear voices chattering. The language was one he couldn't understand. Craning his head around, he tried to catch a glimpse of his captors. Given the immensity of his surroundings, Daniel expected them to be giants, but he estimated the creatures would barely come up to his chest.

And they reminded him of hamsters.

One of them came over and stared at him for a while before moving away again. They certainly weren't human. Bipedal, their brightly coloured clothes covered skin that had a visible layer of hair… not quite thick enough to be called fur. Their faces were definitely rodent-like and Daniel caught a glimpse of rather large incisors. Which probably meant they were vegetarian and unlikely to eat him.

They didn't seem to realise he was conscious and Daniel decided it was best to keep it that way. At least until he figured out how to free himself. Relaxing for a moment, he did nothing more than flex his fingers, digging his nails into the foam. To his surprise, small sections of it came away. Daniel paused for a moment, worried that his action might have been noticed, but the hamster-men were leaving.

Eventually, he managed to free one of his hands and wriggle it out of confinement … almost dislocating his shoulder in the process. He started tearing at the foam, taking advantage of its inherent friability. Once the first incision was made, it tore easily.

Sitting up, Daniel had a far better idea of the dimensions of the room. It contained rows and rows of couches and from what he could see, most of them were occupied. Next to each couch was a control panel. They were vast, twice Daniel's height and three times as broad.

The nearest analogy he could come up with was some kind of life support system. If that was the case, would an alarm sound if he left his couch? There was only one way to find out.

Moving a silently as he could manage, Daniel slipped over to the next couch.

"Sam. Sam!" he hissed.

Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't wake up. Undeterred, Daniel started to free her. He figured he could carry her out if he had to.

"Come on, Sam," he muttered as he pulled her upright.

Sam's head lolled forward as she showed no signs of waking. Daniel was starting to panic. The Hamster people would be back soon. Realising he had little choice in the matter, Daniel slung Sam's limp body over his shoulders and started to weave his way through the couches, hoping to find a way out. Where was Jack when you needed him?

He would have happily carried Sam leaving Daniel free to look around. As it was, he had to concentrate on walking and not banging into things.

As far as he could tell, most of the occupants of the room were human. Of those that weren't, there were a few who were so alien that Daniel was barely able to look at them without his stomach turning. He had no time to wonder why they might be trapped here.

In the closest wall, he spotted a circular hole. It was set at chest height and it was large enough to walk down… if he bent double or crawled. He assumed it was a ventilation shaft.

Daniel started to push Sam into the opening when he paused. Next to it was a human shaped door. He could hear chattering, but he couldn't tell exactly where they were coming from. Were they using the door or… Changing his mind, Daniel pulled Sam through the door, mere seconds before one of the hamsters popped out of the tube.

If they travelled in little plastic balls… but he wasn't going to go there.

The corridor he found himself in showed signs of disuse. It was not well lit and Daniel thought he could detect a layer of dust on the floor. Sam was, by this time, semi-conscious and moving under her own power, albeit supported. Daniel was doing his best to hurry them along, but she wasn't being particularly cooperative. It wouldn't take the Hamster-people long to realise where they'd gone. They needed somewhere to hide for a while, long enough for Sam to shake off the effects of the drugs.

XOXO

Sam's stomach gave an audible growl as she ducked back down around the stairs and out of view of the search party. Whatever the rodent-like humans were, their eyesight wasn't very good. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. On top of the low blood sugar, she also had a blinding headache and she pitied Daniel for being the one stuck with her.

There had to be a way out of here. Logically, since a wormhole brought them here a similar means of transport could be used to take them home again. All they had to do was find it.

They were slowly being driven upwards, which left Sam in little doubt as to the intelligence of their pursuers. She had the feeling they were in no hurry to recapture herself or Daniel.

"What do you think?" she asked in a whisper.

"Up the stairs," he replied. "I don't think we have any other choice."

Eventually they wouldn't be able to go any further and they'd be sitting targets. Even so, Sam wasn't about to make their eventual capture too easy. The Colonel would be looking for them. With luck, they could stay at large long enough for him to get here.

'But how's he going to find you?' the voice in her head demanded. 'He has no idea where you are.'

Sam did her best to ignore her doubts. The last order she had given was for someone to track the wormhole and she hoped to God that someone had obeyed. Sam was currently faring better than Daniel was, but only because he'd spent a significant portion of time carrying her. They would both need to sleep eventually.

Ascertaining that the area outside their hiding place was now quiet, Sam signalled to Daniel and they started to creep up the stairs. She wasn't certain how far up they'd come. There were no windows and no way to get their bearings. It wasn't unlike being trapped in the SGC. They could very easily be underground.

"Sam!" Daniel called out from the end of the corridor.

He'd gone ahead, leaving Sam to cover their rear. Although what good she could do, she wasn't sure. They didn't have any weapons with which to protect themselves should the Hamster people approach from behind.

"What is it?" she asked as she hurried to catch up with him.

"I think I found the elevator," he grinned.

They had very little to lose and they might end up somewhere interesting. Despite the fact she should have been in 'military mode' Sam couldn't help feeling a twinge of excitement at the prospect of exploring a new world. Daniel also had a slightly guilty expression on his face as he obviously felt the same way.

Once inside, Sam punched the top button. The car shuddered slightly as it started to move. Judging by the ominous creaks and groans, the mechanism hadn't been used for a while. Sam's guess about being underground had been correct. When the doors slid open, she and Daniel found themselves on the surface.

At first Sam thought it was night, but as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she realised the landscape was bathed in the bloody light of a small star; a red dwarf. They felt the chill immediately. Logically, Sam knew the feeble rays of the sun had to be warming the atmosphere… It just didn't feel that way. There was a glow on the horizon and she could only think it was a sign of civilization. In silent agreement, she and Daniel started to walk towards it.

XOXO

Jack O'Neill always experienced a certain sense of dislocation when he returned to Earth after an extended period off world. Understandably, he found it difficult to return to a more mundane existence, and never more so than on this occasion.

Cassie certainly wasn't throwing the wild party that he and Carter had joked about, Jack realised has he drew up outside the house. In fact, it didn't look as if there was anyone home. Getting no reply when he knocked at the door, Jack used his key to let himself in.

However, he quickly found out that the house wasn't as empty as it appeared. As soon as he walked into the living room, his skull was nearly split apart by a series of high-pitched screams. Before he could say anything, someone had kicked him just above the knee although he suspected his attacker meant to aim a little higher. It was a good thing he was tall.

"Cassandra!" he snapped as he backed off.

He fumbled for the light switch. Finding it, he turned to face his attackers… half a dozen teenaged girls in fluffy PJs. Cassie was closest to him and he guessed she was the one who had kicked him.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, "But we were telling ghost stories…"

"Never mind. I like your attitude," he replied.

"Is that Sam's boyfriend?" one of the other girl's asked in an audible whisper.

"He's hot," another one added.

As flattering as the comment was, Jack had to shake his head.

"I'm her boss."

"Jack… where's Sam?" Cassie asked.

"Cass…"

He didn't know what to say, not in front of an audience. When Janet had died, Carter had been the one to tell Cassie. In Jack's defence, he had been confined to the infirmary or he would have gone with her and shared the burden. This time the task fell to him alone.

"… let's go outside," he finished.

She already knew something was wrong and for a second he thought she was going to demand an explanation right there and then, but she obediently followed him out of the room.

"Sam's dead, isn't she?" Cassie asked as soon as they were alone. Her voice was strangely calm, and Jack knew she was preparing herself to hear the worst.

"I hope not," Jack replied. "But she's missing."

Jack didn't want to lie to her, nor did he want to cause her undue distress. The truth was, he just didn't know. Jack admitted he was clinging to the hope that she was still alive. The attack on the Alpha Site had to be a result of intelligence gathered from SG-7, so whoever was responsible was also keeping their prisoners alive… at least for a while.

Cassie was trying her best to be strong, but Jack didn't know if it was for him or her friends.

"Do you want me to stay?" he offered.

"Yes."

"Shall I take your friends home?"

"Yes."

To their credit, Cassie's friends didn't complain about the fact their sleepover had been cut short. Each of them offered Cassandra a big hug as Jack tried to usher them out of the door. Her cell phone would probably be active for most of the night as they checked up on her but it reassured him slightly. Jack was going to have to return to the SGC in the morning, and he wasn't thrilled about leaving her alone.

When he got back, Cassandra was defiantly drinking a beer. Jack didn't comment. He'd rather she did it in front of him than sneak around behind his back. Since he'd had a very long and a very bad day, Jack grabbed one too. They didn't talk much and Cassandra didn't take more than a couple of sips from her bottle. Jack finished it off for her after she'd gone to bed.

"You can take Sam's room," she'd told him before she'd retired.

Under any other circumstances, Jack would have refused, but he was craving the chance to sleep in a proper bed. Luckily, there was nothing of Pete Shanahan's in the room; otherwise, Jack would have definitely slept on the couch. And he found something that made him smile. There was an old UASF T-shirt slung over the bedpost.

As Jack picked it up, his grin broadened. It was one of his. Specifically, the shirt he'd been wearing during his run in with mini!me. Of course, Sam could have picked it up in error, Jack wasn't exactly renowned for his tidiness, but he liked the idea she kept it for another reason. Besides, it gave him something to sleep in. He did feel like an intruder as he slipped under the quilt, but the lure of rest was too strong. Surrounded by the scent of vanilla and lavender, Jack slept.

XOXO

The smell of coffee finally woke Jack. He rolled over in bed, stretching his arm across the mattress, and then wondered why he thought someone else should be there. A glance at the clock on the bedside table told him he's slept far later than he'd meant to. He'd have to move it if he wanted to get the SGC before his shift started.

Deciding he would wait until he got to the base before taking a shower, Jack pulled his pants on and headed in search of the coffee. He didn't expect to find anyone other than Cassandra waiting for him.

The man in the kitchen was clearly agitated.

"I wouldn't let him wake you," Cassie said.

"Why wasn't I told?" Pete demanded before Jack had time to say anything.

"Cass?" Jack asked.

"I told him," she replied.

"Then you know."

Despite having slept for nearly ten hours, Jack was really too tired to put up with any crap from Pete. The man's little stunt with the whole Osiris case hadn't endeared him to Jack. Sure, he was sorry the guy had gotten hurt. From a certain point of view, he could understand why Pete had acted on his instincts, but he should have had the sense to back away when he'd seen what was going down.

Jack knew if he were in Pete's position, he'd probably be making the same demands… However, he wasn't and it was doubtful he ever would be.

"Technically, we don't have to tell you squat," he went on as he poured himself some coffee. "You aren't listed as Carter's next of kin. And she's just missing."

"Just missing…!" Pete exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah, and I'm going to get her back."

"You're not the only one who cares about her," the other man accused him.

"Maybe not, but I'm the only one who can do anything about it," he replied, almost daring the cop to disagree.

There, the cards were on the table. Jack didn't have the energy to try to deny the accusation. He spoke with more emotion than he'd meant to, but his words had the desired effect and Pete backed off. Cassie was watching the pair of them, her eyes wide. He realised this was probably hurting her far more than she was letting on. Pete and himself were secondary. Jack had to get Carter back for Cassie's sake.

"Pete, can you stay around for a few days?" he asked.

"I have some leave I can take," Pete answered, warily.

"Do me a favour and keep Cassie company?"

"Sure."

"Jack!" Cassandra objected.

"Humour me, Cass. I don't want to be worrying about you while I'm worrying about Carter. Or do you want my hair to fall out as well as the grey?"

The teenager knew him well enough to realise he was speaking the truth.

"I have to go," Jack said.

"Bring her back," Pete said.

"I will."

He and Pete shook hands. Cassie gave him a hug and Jack tried not to feel bad about leaving her.

XOXO

As he looked around the briefing room, Teal'c could almost hear O'Neill's objections… even though his friend had not yet arrived. General Hammond had certainly selected an eclectic group of people to aid their search for Major Carter and Daniel Jackson.

To Teal'c's right sat Lieutenant Jennifer Hailey. Her diminutive form belied her potential as a warrior. He knew that Major Carter had predicted a great future for this young woman, and Teal'c could think of no higher recommendation. However, he could not say they same for Doctor Felger, who occupied the chair to his left. Although the man had been responsible for saving his life, Teal'c still hadn't entirely forgiven him for managing the crash the entire Stargate network. True, the Doctor hadn't been entirely responsible, but it had been his program. He needed to be watched very carefully.

Cameron Balinsky was they final new face at the table. P3X-666… He had risked his life to bring the news that SG-13 were under attack. Teal'c doubted he would ever forget that world… the place where Janet Fraiser died. Judging by his depressed appearance, it was clear the young man was still traumatized by his experience.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

O'Neill's exclamation was exactly as Teal'c had expected … just without the 'for crying out loud.'

Hailey, he noticed, had jumped to attention, as had Felger although Teal'c couldn't fathom the reason why. Balinsky stayed seated. He didn't even raise his head.

"Is this the best you could do?" O'Neill asked General Hammond.

"I've been analysing the data you brought back from the Alpha Site," Hailey said, apparently unfazed by O'Neill's reaction.

"Okay, you can stay."

He took a seat and folded his hands, staring at Hailey expectantly. His undivided attention, however, caused her to stammer. She looked towards the General who gestured for her to continue.

"I… uh… they… there was enough information to track the wormhole."

"And?"

"It disappeared, sir."

"Excuse me?"

"Beyond the usual six co-ordinate system, so I tried to run a model using a seventh chevron."

"And?"

"It still doesn't work. I can only make sense of it if I add an eight and a ninth co-ordinate but…"

"What you're telling me is you have no idea where they are?"

"Yes, sir."

Her lip trembled for a second. She was taking the failure very personally.

"Anyone else?" O'Neill demanded.

There was silence around the table. Then Felger raised his hand. O'Neill's eyes closed in what was possibly a moment of pain, but Hammond signalled for the man to continue.

Felger got to his feet, his eyes glittering with excitement.

"The wormhole," he began and then paused for dramatic effect. "Wasn't like anything we've ever seen before!"

"And why is that?" Teal'c asked since O'Neill had his head in his hands.

"It seems capable of bidirectional travel."

"Carter worked out that much," O'Neill snapped.

Felger dropped the pile of notes he was hold, earning himself a disdainful glare from Hailey. Teal'c sensed there had already been some conflict between these two.

"What if the eight and ninth co-ordinates take the wormhole out of this universe?" Felger said, ignoring Hailey's disdainful laugh.

"Lieutenant?" O'Neill asked.

Under any other circumstances, O'Neill would have asked Major Carter for clarification. He didn't appear as if he fully trusted the young woman's opinion. It was just that he could rely on her more than he could on Felger.

"An inter-universe wormhole is a theory, nothing more," Hailey said. "It would require vast amounts of negative energy. The Stargate system is the only efficient means of wormhole travel that we know of."

"Being the operative word," O'Neill finished.

"Sir?"

"Maybe the Stargate system isn't the only one."

"You are thinking of the device we encountered on P9C-372?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah."

"Colonel?" Hammond questioned.

The General seemed to be losing the thread of the conversation. Understandable really, since neither Teal'c nor O'Neill had though to explain a mistake that they attempted to rectify.

"We found this huge metal gizmo…" O'Neill began.

"That Major Carter believed to be made of Naquadah," Teal'c added.

"It had something to do with wormholes but it wasn't a Stargate."

The other members of the briefing looked at each other.

"Um… yes, that's very clear," Felger said.

"The point is we saw footage of a wormhole and it could be another way to get to Carter and Daniel. I think we should check it out, sir," O'Neill replied.

"The evidence is flimsy at best," Hammond said.

"I know… I know… but it's all we got."

XOXO

"Chloe! Chloe!" Jay Felger screamed as he burst through the double doors into his lab.

The last time he'd been this excited had been his thirty-fifth birthday when his mom had brought him the original Star Trek series on DVD.

"What is it, Jay?" Chloe asked as she turned away from the computer program she was working on.

"I'm going!" he said.

"Going where?"

"On the Prometheus, to rescue Major Carter and Daniel Jackson. I'm part of Colonel O'Neill's hand-picked team."

Chloe glared at him. Okay so maybe handpicked was a little bit of an exaggeration. He was probably the only person not on leave or injured, but it didn't matter to Jay. He'd been selected to go on the mission, the how any why didn't really matter. He was the right man for the job and he was determined to make Colonel O'Neill realise that.

"You've got to help me pack," he ordered.

"Is it just you?" she asked, not moving from where she stood.

"There are a couple of other people."

He didn't want to admit whom exactly. Jennifer Hailey had no time for him, and she'd said as much. Jay also had the uncomfortable feeling that she was actually smarter than he was... and that Colonel O'Neill liked her more.

"I'll need… all this stuff," Jay said. "And could you make me a sandwich… the same one as you did last time?"

"Yes, Jay," she heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Or maybe I could come with you this time?"

"I don't think so. The universe is a strange and terrifying place. It's no place for a wom… Ow!"

A very large and heavy piece of equipment had suddenly landed on his foot.

"Sorry," Chloe said with an apologetic smile, although she didn't sound very sincere. "So what does that make Major Carter? If she's not a woman, Colonel O'Neill is in for a very nasty surprise."

"Chloe, I don't want to hear you repeating malicious gossip. Colonel O'Neill is…"

"Is what?" the voice of the man in question demanded.

Jay found himself tripping over Chloe's feet in his efforts to greet the Colonel. He slung his arm across the man's shoulders in a friendly fashion.

"Felger! Touching!" O'Neill snapped.

Felger immediately pulled his arm away.

"Well, Jack… Can I call you Jack?"

"No."

"Well… Colonel O'Neill … I was just explaining to Chloe that it's a tough universe out there and how men like us are needed to blaze a trail across the heavens."

For some reason the Colonel didn't seem to be that impressed. In fact, he seemed to be more interested in Chloe.

"You know what, you should come with us," he offered.

"Me?" she gasped, as well she might. She was, after all, just an assistant.

"Sure, I could use your help."

Chloe giggled. If Jay hadn't known better, he would have sworn that O'Neill was actually flirting with her. Why would he do that? Why?

"Isn't it too dangerous? You know, Jaffa at every turn, systems lords…" Felger asked.

"Not really. The moon's been abandoned," Chloe said. "I read the mission reports."

"Why don't we discuss it over coffee?" O'Neill offered.

"I'd like that Colonel."

"Call me Jack."

XOXO

'The four foot nine fighting machine' Colonel O'Neill had called her and Jennifer Hailey sincerely hoped he'd meant it in an affectionate way. Sometimes it was difficult to tell when he was being derogatory. However, he had the reputation of being the finest commander in the SGC so Hailey was willing to put up with a few eccentricities. Having seen the man in action, she knew the reputation was well earned. She still vividly remembered her first trip through the Stargate, M4C-862. Colonel O'Neill had risked his life with his run to the Stargate. He would rather do that than put others in danger and Hailey had learned a valuable lesson. She admitted she'd been prone to a severe case of hero worship ever since.

If anyone was worthy of her undying devotion, it was Major Carter, but the two women were really too similar in nature to ever have a cordial relationship. Jennifer didn't believe Major Carter was always right, and vice versa. Differences in opinion led to conflict between them, and the young lieutenant had to admit to a certain frustration when people automatically deferred to the older woman.

In Hailey's eyes, this was her chance to prove herself. She was ambitious … always had been. Lurking at the back of her mind was the thought that a spot on SG-1 could be up for grabs. Not that she actually wished either Major Carter of Dr. Jackson harm, but if a vacancy came up, Hailey wanted to make certain she was first in line should the opportunity arise.

"Don't screw up… don't screw up," she muttered to herself as she took the elevator up to the surface.

She could do this… She had to do this. Then again, if the worst came to the worst, at least she'd make a better showing than Felger.

XOXO

Balinsky didn't know why he'd been chosen for this mission. He knew the rest of his team were out of rotation, but that didn't mean he was the only archaeologist available. He'd sat silently at the briefing, hoping that no one would notice him, but the technique hadn't worked and he'd gotten his marching orders.

The truth was, after his last mission, he was starting to doubt his usefulness to the program. It had been his decision to stay on that planet. He'd been so enthralled by the ancient ruins that he had spared no thought as to the safety of the rest of his team.

The result…

His friends had been injured.

Janet Fraiser had died.

And it was all his fault.

He didn't trust himself to go out there again, especially not with SG-1. What would happen if he screwed up? Here, on the plane heading towards Area 51, Balinsky was very much keeping himself to himself. He didn't deserve another chance. Hell, he could barely look Colonel O'Neill in the eye. It was lucky the man was pretending to be asleep, having found that it was the only way to stop Dr. Felger talking to him.

It was a technique Balinsky wondered if he shouldn't be employing himself. The doctor certainly had a case of verbal incontinence. Since everyone else was essentially ignoring him, Balinsky didn't have the heart to shut him down.

"And you know Major Carter and I… well, let's just say we connected on an intellectual level."

Felger raised his eyebrows in a suggestive fashion, which coincided with a snort from Colonel O'Neill.

"What can I say? The ladies appreciate brains over brawn," Felger continued.

He was probably going to talk for the entire flight but in some ways, it was a relief. At least it stopped Balinsky thinking. All he had to do was nod in the appropriate places and maybe it made the other man feel a little better too.

XOXO

Everything Daniel looked at spoke of ages past; from the vegetation to the road, he and Sam were now walking along. They'd come across the causeway not long after they'd left the underground facility. It made sense there'd be some connection between that and the city, but it was obvious it hadn't been used in years. The paving stones were cracked in places, uneven in others. It didn't make for easy walking. Anywhere else and the road would have been overgrown… but not here.

Daniel doubted that anything grew here anymore. There were a few stunted trees, moss, lichen but not much else. What could grow without light? Very little changed as the sun crossed the sky. The 'day' didn't get any brighter or warmer. In a world this dark, it was no wonder there was always a glow on the horizon. Daniel was glad of the guiding light. He hated to think they might get themselves lost here. Unless they particularly wanted to scrape lichen from the rocks, they'd quickly find themselves without food and without shelter. Once the sun went down and the temperature dropped…

Even so, Daniel was hoping there was civilisation at the end of their march and it wasn't just some false hope. Who knew what was actually over the horizon? It might not be a city at all. His spirits rose, however, when they reached the bridge and he could see buildings on the other side.

Since they had reached the surface, there had been no signs of further pursuit. Of course, their former captors could be nocturnal and the attack would happen once the sun went down. The thought made him even more eager to reach the city. Given the condition of the bridge they still had to cross, a little enthusiasm wasn't a bad thing.

The graceful suspension bridge spanning the vast gorge must have been beautiful once. Now, the rail was missing in places and there were gaping holes in the surface they were walking on. The river that had once carved its way through the rock was now no more than a pathetic trickle. As Daniel looked down, all he could see were jagged rocks, just waiting for him to fall on them. If there had been anything in his stomach, he might well have been physically sick. He'd forgotten how much he hated heights. Over the years, the fear had diminished somewhat… just to attack him with full force at the most inopportune moments. Sam, he noticed, unhindered by such phobias, had stopped to wait for him at the crest of the span.

"Don't stop," he hissed through gritted teeth as he drew level with her.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Just keep going."

He needed someone to focus on otherwise he was going to fall prey to the old cliché and put his foot through a hole in the surface. And Jack would never forgive him. If Sam was in front of him, he could walk where she did… even if the matter of their differing weights did prey on his mind. The technique worked. A few more steps and Daniel found himself on solid ground.

They had entered the outskirts of the city and seemingly, empty buildings surrounded them.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Sam said.

"There may not be enough people," Daniel suggested.

It made sense. The lights were still ahead of them. A dwindling population may well have migrated towards the central section. Not that it mattered. They didn't have any choice other than to go on.

The architecture hinted at a once prosperous civilization and it was all Daniel could do to stop himself darting into the ruins. There was no sign of the skyscrapers that were found in the major cities on Earth. At the most, each building was two or three stories high, but way above them, creating an intricate network across the sky was a series of causeways that Daniel could only imagine had formed the transport system. Whether it had carried people or vehicles, he couldn't tell.

"Do you recognise any of this?" he asked the Entity.

THIS IS NOT MY WORLD

"I realise that. I was thinking about the shape of the buildings. Are the like the ones the organic life forms built?"

I NEVER SAW

Daniel had no way to tell if it was lying.

The first person they saw screamed and ran away. Daniel could only imagine that neither himself, nor Sam presented a very appealing appearance. They were both somewhat dishevelled after their long walk. What he didn't expect was, ten minutes later, to hear the distinctive chatter of their former captors. How they had got there so quickly, he couldn't imagine… unless they had some kind of underground transport system. The more he thought about it, the more logical his theory seemed.

The streets were full of them. Daniel and Sam had no choice but to force their weary bodies to move just that little bit faster. If they could just keep far enough ahead then maybe, just maybe they could find somewhere to hide until…

Until what?

Jack and Teal'c came to the rescue?

Daniel admitted to himself that the chances of that happening were slim to none. Yet he didn't even consider giving up. Even if their capture was inevitable, he wasn't about to make this easy. He wasn't going to spend his life strapped to a machine. Without a second thought, he followed Sam as she headed up a flight of stairs. It was a wise move. The bodies of their pursuers weren't well adapted for climbing stairs since their legs were far shorter than adult human's were. However, Daniel's relief was short lived when one of them dropped to all fours to climb the steps.

He and Sam came to a halt, dropping flat and waiting to see what the creature would do.

They were on a platform suspended high above the city and the causeway ran through the middle of it. Like so many areas of the city, it showed signs of disrepair. Daniel found himself lying unnaturally still, barely letting his chest rise and fall as he drew breath. If they moved, it would find them. His face was pressed against the cementitious surface, and he didn't dare to raise his head to observe the creature's progress.

Daniel didn't know why, but these humanoids really freaked him out. Human, but not quite… somehow that was worse that something that had been outright alien. They didn't look particularly violent, but perhaps that was the problem. Physical violence he could handle. He knew it couldn't be that far away. Slowly, carefully, he reached out a hand and picked up a chunk of masonry that was lying nearby. Hardly raising his arm, Daniel managed to toss it over the edge of the platform they were laying on and down to the street below. The noise of the stone hitting the ground was enough to send the creature scuttling back down the stairs again.

"Let's go," Sam whispered.

Still keeping low, they rolled off the platform and onto the causeway. Now he was closer, Daniel could see a metal rail ran the length of the surface. There was little doubt in his mind that it must have been used for vehicles of some kind.

They continued to head towards the lights. After all, they had seen a human here. Where there was one there would be more. With luck, he and Sam could lose themselves in the native population.

And wait.

XOXO

It was definitely getting darker. Sam estimated that the sun had taken almost fifteen hours to traverse the sky. Assuming they were located at the equator then the night would last just as long. She was acutely aware that they needed to find shelter some time soon. As the sun dipped towards the horizon, the air was growing colder, and a chill wind had sprung up from somewhere. Eventually they were going to have to head back down to street level. Sam just hoped they'd managed to shake off their pursuers.

Daniel, she noticed, was doing his best not to look down and she couldn't exactly blame him. The local equivalent of train tracks wasn't the most comfortable place to walk. Although the track was wide enough, there was no railing at the side … Nothing between themselves and a long fall. They couldn't spend the night up here; that much was certain.

They had passed several of the platforms that Sam assumed served as stations. Each one was accompanied by a set of stairs leading back down to street level, like the ones they had come up. However, it had been a while since Sam had seen any way down. She really didn't want to retrace their steps, but she was starting to wonder if the didn't have any other choice. Despite the fact that Daniel was more than capable of looking after himself, Sam couldn't help but try to watch over him. Despite their similar ages, she couldn't help but see him as a younger brother. And the Colonel would never forgive her…

Damn.

Not someone she wanted to think about right now. Her mind gave a guilty start as she realised she should have been worrying about Pete.

Before long the tracks started to slop downwards and Sam started to think they might end up back down at street level after all. But they dipped lower... well below the surface of the ground.

"What do you think?" she asked Daniel in a low voice.

"At least it isn't up," he replied.

The tunnel wasn't dark… at least no more so than the rest of the city. Sam could see lights set into the walls at regular intervals. It was certainly warmer once they were inside and out of the wind. Although they had seen no sign that the transport system was still in use, Sam was stuck with the irrational fear that a train was about to appear and run them down. The lights showed that there was still power somewhere in the city.

As they walked down the tunnel, Sam noticed other tracks joining theirs. It looked as if they were heading towards some kind of nexus. There were definite similarities with the chamber they had found beneath the surface of the moon. Another vast room, lit by some unknown source from the ceiling above and Sam could see more of the metal rings embedded into the walls.

"I think we hit Grand Central," Daniel breathed.

"Daniel… this must have been a whole wormhole network."

"Like the Stargates?"

"I think so… except without a dialling system, they need a new gate for every destination hence… It's amazing!"

"Do you think they still work?"

Sam couldn't help grinning at Daniel. His mind was working along the same lines as hers. One of these Gates could possibly take them home… or at least back to P9C-372. Despite the fact the lights were on, none of the gates appeared to be active. They were smaller than the one they'd seen on the Entity planet, the size of vehicles rather than space ships. Sam theorized that these Gates needed a lot less power to activate the wormholes.

"I'm guessing here, but it looks like the people here could just catch a train to another planet," she said.

"Is it my imagination or are these the same as the one we found on P9C-372?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, they are."

"I guess we found out where they went."

They climbed off the tracks and onto one of the platforms. Hunger, weariness, the need to take a shower was forgotten in the excitement of finding something new.

A set of ramps led away from the platforms. Sam and Daniel followed them upwards until they found themselves in a waiting area. Rows and rows of benches lined the room and on one wall was a vast mosaic. At least that was what it looked like at first. On closer inspection, it proved to be something far more valuable.

"It's a map," Daniel said.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

To her, it didn't look much more than a jumble of colours and shapes. With this place serving the transport needs of hundreds, may be thousands of people, there had to be a map… or something to tell them where these Gates went.

"There's lettering, look, next to each of these…"

He pressed what appeared to be a circle of blue and the writing was instantly illuminated.

"Blue blobs? What language is it?"

"Ancient… or a derivation of… and these lines are connecting the…"

"Blue blobs."

"Worm holes… are you channelling Jack by any chance?"

"I'm sorry."

Sam was always amazed that Daniel could see so much from a cursory examination. It didn't seem to matter what civilization or what time period… or even if it was a language he'd never seen before.

"What does the writing mean?" she asked.

"I don't know… I can make a guess but it won't mean anything," he answered with a helpless shrug.

"Why not?"

"Because all it's listing are destinations. This one here, literally translated, means the planet where the sky is blue."

"I take your point. Do any of them sound like somewhere we might know?"

"This might take a while."

They didn't exactly have any place else to go. Although there was nothing to eat, it was warm, dry and quiet. It was as good a place as any to stop and rest… and Daniel would be kept amused for hours.

"Daniel, could you keep first watch?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, although Sam suspected he wasn't listening.

Choosing one of the benches, she stretched out along its length and tried to sleep.

XOXO

Now he'd been aboard for four days, Jack wasn't as keen on the Prometheus as a means of transport. If he'd been left alone, he would have been okay, but Felger kept following him around… despite Chloe's best efforts to keep him occupied. Jack didn't know what was wrong with the guy. Why Felger kept on chasing him was a mystery. Especially considering Chloe clearly had the hots for the scientist. She was cute. If Jack had a woman like that interested in him, he'd be doing everything he could to make sure she knew he was interested.

Felger was just weird.

The truth was Jack had never been comfortable with the hero worship thing. It wasn't as if he'd ever really done anything to deserve his reputation. People like Daniel, Carter and Teal'c were the real heroes. Jack just stood around, asked dumb questions and shot at stuff. His job was relatively easy. People like Felger creeped him out. They wanted him to be more than he was and Jack wasn't comfortable with that. It reminded him of that interview he'd given. If it hadn't been for Fraiser… Jack had taken the opportunity to talk about the doctor, and those like her. He hadn't said a word about himself despite Bregman's gentle prompting. No one wanted to know what Jack O'Neill ate for breakfast…

Hailey was almost as bad as Felger. Okay, so perhaps she wasn't quite so annoying, but she was always cornering him and trying to discuss some kind of theory that only Carter would understand. As soon as she mentioned quarks, Jack would snap at her, she'd get that look on her face… and Jack would feel like he'd just kicked a puppy. He couldn't work out what was going on with her. Sure she was young and that probably accounted for her over enthusiasm, but he couldn't help feeling she wanted something else from him. Jack was pretty certain it wasn't just a crush.

What worried Jack was that she didn't seem to have any patience with those she considered less intelligent than herself. A personality trait had almost gotten her thrown out of the academy. She certainly didn't have Carter's tolerance or general good nature. Still, Hailey had the makings of a fine officer, and with luck, she would mellow with age.

The final member of the team did actually know how to keep himself to himself. Cameron Balinsky had hardly said two words to anyone since coming on board. This in itself was something of a concern. The staff at the SGC were generally a friendly garrulous bunch, and Dave Dixon certainly hadn't had any complaints about the young man. Jack could only think that it had something to do with SG-13's previous mission. Although Balinsky had been medically certified as fit for duty, mentally he wasn't there yet. There wasn't much Jack could do about it. He just had to hope the man could hold it together.

Hammond had believed these were the best people available and Jack had to respect his commanding officer's decision … even if he felt like he was playing nursemaid to a group of raw recruits. There wasn't much else to do until his new team had figured out a way to activate the wormhole. Not for the first time, Jack really wished he'd paid more attention in science class. He'd be a whole lot happier if Carter and Daniel were on the case.

He and Teal'c would have their part to play in this. Assuming they could activate the wormhole, and assuming they could find a way to get an X-302 down there… Jack wasn't going to risk anyone else flying through that thing. Hell, they didn't know where they'd end up. Or if they'd find Carter and Daniel. If they could stop whatever was attacking the Stargate system.

A whole lot of assumptions.

Not to mention the risk to Earth's last line of defence… if Anubis chose to show up…If Jack was forced to spend the rest of his life with Felger, then he would personally find the Goa'uld and rip the snake out through his butt.

Although this wasn't the first time he had seen this world from space, Jack still found himself marvelling at the perfect smoothness of the globe. It looked like a machine, he mused to himself.

The Prometheus took a tour of the other moons as she settled into orbit. There were two that appeared habitable… or they would have been at one time. If anyone had ever lived there, no sign remained. Jack didn't know why he was surprised. Living, active worlds such as these hid their secrets easily. Who knew how long it had been since people had lived there…

… And he was starting to sound like Daniel.

Next, he'd want to go down there and dig something up. The thought made him shudder.

The airless moon was exactly as they had left it… near as he could tell.

"The ship is booby trapped," Jack advised as he briefed his team. "Do not, I repeat do not, go anywhere alone. Keep radio contact at all times. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Felger replied a little too enthusiastically.

Jack took a deep breath. How could he ever have found Daniel annoying? It was all a matter of perspective.

"Get yourselves geared up, we leave in ten minutes," he finished.

XOXO

"So, bet you're looking forward to this, huh?" Jay Felger said as he followed Colonel O'Neill towards the living quarters.

"No, I'm not," the Colonel replied.

"All getting a bit routine?"

"Two of my best friends are missing."

"Oh… right."

"And no, Felger you can't watch me get changed."

And Jay realised he'd been about to follow the Colonel into his quarters. He found himself flushing with embarrassment as he hastily backed away. Jay hoped that no one had witnessed his latest embarrassment, but a derisive laugh told him otherwise. He turned around to see Lieutenant Hailey standing behind him.

"Why don't you just try and kiss his ass, Felger," she laughed.

"That's Doctor Felger," he shot back.

He had a PhD and he wasn't afraid to use it, but rather than being impressed, she just shook her head and walked away.

Not for the first time since he'd started working at the SGC, Jay felt like crying. No matter how hard he tried, he didn't think he'd ever really fit in. O'Neill hated him, Hailey despised him … Felger wished he could go home. All he wanted was for people to like him. What was so bad about that? But the more he tried the worse it got. People started to laugh when they saw him coming. The only person who was nice to him was Major Carter. But she was nice to everyone… and everyone liked her… Jay wondered how she managed it. Then again, O'Neill was a grouch and no one hated him.

Perhaps he would be better off back in academia. Life was certainly much easier when the only people he had to deal with on a day-to-day basis were recalcitrant students.

He was going to screw up again. He just knew it. Major Carter and Dr. Jackson would stay lost and Colonel O'Neill would probably... Jay's imagination gave out. There wasn't a punishment invented that would truly express the man's wrath. At the best, Jay would find himself stationed in Russia. Or perhaps Antarctica?

"Jay?"

Chloe's voice surprised him. Jay cleared his throat,

"Uh… hi… Colonel O'Neill and I were just, you know, deciding on the best way to proceed with the mission."

"Okay… but shouldn't you be getting changed?"

"I was just on my way."

He started down the corridor, and then paused.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"No. I'm staying here."

"Oh."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… I just… I wish you were going to be there."

"That's sweet. I'll be here when you get back."

"If I get back."

Jay wished he had her confidence. He also wished she'd kiss him again, as she had done the time he'd gone with Major Carter. As she walked past him, he considered grabbing her and mashing his lips against hers, but before he could make the decision, she had moved out of reach.

XOXO

The Prometheus flew low over the moon, close enough so they could use the rings to transport themselves directly into the main dome. Teal'c wished they had time to do something about the human remains. No one lost the contents of their stomach but even Lieutenant Hailey looked a little pale at the sight of the bodies that still littered the area.

"I've never seen a dead body before," Doctor Felger whispered.

"They have been dead for many years," Teal'c attempted to reassure him.

"That doesn't really help."

"Let's move out!" O'Neill ordered.

He was wise to move them from this place. They had to divorce themselves from the death. These people did not matter. They were several thousand years too late to save them. However, rescuing Daniel Jackson and Major Carter was well within the realms of possibility. At least that was what Teal'c chose to believe. SG-1 had made their reputation from beating the odds, and he had faith that this new team would live up to the honour. He was well aware that he was the one who had to remain strong, that even O'Neill might falter in the face of insurmountable odds. Anything was possible where the fate of his teammates was in the balance. If nothing else, he would want hard evidence of their deaths and even then…

Teal'c wasn't sure what would happen if they found it.

O'Neill would certainly push these people to their limits. Although they'd probably be the first to deny it, he and Major Carter were very similar in this respect. It was not up to Teal'c to comment as to the reasons why.

They retraced their footsteps, down into the hanger where the ship waited for them. Teal'c noticed that the lights were still on.

"Wait here," O'Neill ordered. "Teal'c you're with me."

He was being cautious, Teal'c realised as he followed O'Neill onto the ship. Judging by their last experience a certain amount of care was justified. Who knew what other booby traps the designers of this ship had built into the vessel? Teal'c still didn't entirely understand the nature of the threat they had faced. These Entities's were not unlike the Goa'uld. Taking human's to serve their own needs was their modus operandi, but from what he could tell, their desire to do so had been a sudden one.

"This place gives me the creeps," O'Neill muttered.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

Even with the lights on the sense of disquiet was just as strong. Although Teal'c didn't believe in ghosts, he felt the dead were walking with them. They couldn't search the whole ship. Such as task could wait until the other members of the team had started their work. However, they retraced their steps back to the Bridge, checking out the familiar territory to make sure that nothing had changed. It was all exactly as they had left it… apart from a discarded candy wrapper.

"Daniel's," O'Neill said quietly.

Teal'c didn't think he had ever heard his friend sound so despondent.

"You do not believe that we will find Daniel Jack son a Major Carter alive?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't know, Teal'c. I mean, how many times can we do this? How many times can we go looking and find them alive and well? The luck's got to run out at some point."

"I do not believe in luck."

"Right."

It was an effort to stop himself smiling at O'Neill's expression of sarcastic disbelief.

"We've been lucky," O'Neill asserted. "I mean, look at Daniel. How many times can a guy die?"

"I cannot answer that question."

"Exactly… and he's still got that thing in his head…"

His voice trailed away.

"And Major Carter?" Teal'c questioned.

But the expression or rather the lack of one, on O'Neill's face was more than enough to describe his feelings. Teal'c decided that the subject was one best dropped.

"All appears secure, O'Neill," he said.

"Good, let's call the eggheads in."

XOXO

Hailey kept her P90 raised as she watched Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c disappear into the bowels of the ship. She wasn't going to be the one who dropped her guard while they were out here. To her left, Felger was practically hyperventilating at the sight of the ship. Balinsky however, didn't seem to care. He was staring down at his boots. Once again, Hailey found herself wondering what exact circumstances had led to these people being assigned. She was fairly certain that Colonel O'Neill felt the same way. Jennifer would have preferred to have gone with the Colonel and Teal'c, but she realised someone had to protect these people… someone who knew one end of a gun from the other.

If only the rest of her class at the Academy could see her now…

She was willing to bet good money that none of them had managed to get such a plumb posting. Being assigned to the SGC was an honour, but not everyone was allowed to go off world. Hailey had always been a little annoyed that Elliott had been assigned before she had, especially considering her previous off-world experience. She'd sometimes wondered if Major Carter had put a wrench in the works because Hailey had dared to argue with her. Then again, Elliott had died… which wasn't something she particularly wanted to think about in any detail. Dying alone on an unremarkable planet wasn't anything she planned for herself. People talked about him as if he was a hero, but Hailey couldn't really see the reasons why. He'd had a Tok'ra inside him, what was heroic about that? No one knew if Elliott had actually decided to lay down his life… Or if the snake in his head had made the decision for him.

"Hailey, this place checks out. Get your ass in here," the Colonel's voice sounded unnaturally loud. There was a clatter as Felger dropped his gun.

"On our way, sir," she replied.

"He wants us to go in?" Felger questioned.

"Not much we can do out here."

Of all the stupid questions… Hailey had few qualms about leading the way into the ship. Although she did wonder if she should bring up the rear, just to stop one of them shooting her in the back by mistake.

Her first impression was one of vague disappointment. It didn't look very alien. Hailey didn't know exactly what she had been expecting.

A few more flashing lights?

Some kind of alien life form ready to jump on someone's face?

She had the sudden realisation that maybe this mission wasn't going to be as exciting as she'd first expected.

"What kept you?" the Colonel demanded when they finally found him and Teal'c.

"Sir?" Hailey replied. She didn't know what he expected. They couldn't have gotten in any faster.

"Never mind."

It was difficult to judge his mood. He was definitely her commanding officer now and not the cool guy who thought her theories were neat.

"Hailey, get onto the flight deck. Teal'c found a video recording system go through it and see what you can find."

"Yes sir," she replied.

"Balinsky, take Teal'c and see if you can find some kind of library. If these folks were planning to start a new civilization the chances are they'd be taking their history with them."

"Yes sir," he answered, his voice dull.

"What about me, Colonel?" Felger asked.

Hailey fought back a smirk at the expression on the Colonel's face.

"We're going to check out the gate."

The smirk turned into a full-blown laugh, earning her a glare from her commanding officer. She supposed it was a mark of a good command, being willing to take on the rough jobs.

"Keep in radio contact," was the final order.

XOXO

The map was complicated. From what Daniel could tell, this wormhole network was almost as extensive as the Stargate system and the planet they were on seemed to be the hub of the web. At least twenty gates found their origin here, leading to twenty other worlds. Those worlds had other gates... the web spreading out until it encompassed a thousand planets… maybe more. It wasn't possible to dial any gate in the system. You would have to navigate this one the same as you might do a rail network. Who was to say which system was the most convenient? Here the Gates were larger and could certainly handle more than a few people and, if you were very careful, a small spaceship.

Daniel glanced back at Sam. She'd been sleeping soundly for the past two hours and showed no signs of waking. His own fatigue had diminished in the face of the new discovery. He found himself wondering if there was a way of getting one of them working again. There was power here but it took huge amounts of energy to create a stable wormhole. Surely, someone was going to notice if he switched it on. Assuming he could work out how… Sam could probably do it. Unlike other areas of the city, this place seemed to be undamaged. He had no idea as to why it had been abandoned, but he was certain the answer was out there somewhere. This civilisation was dying and Daniel wondered if there was even any life on those other worlds.

There was only one way to find out.

He started to walk around the perimeter of the room, hoping to see something that might resemble a control centre. There were only two exits. The one they had come through, leading to the gates, and one directly opposite. Daniel took a few steps up the gently sloping tunnel. He assumed it led to street level.

"Daniel where are you going?" Sam's voice was sleepy.

"I was just…" he began.

She swung her legs off the bench and came to join him.

"Just what?"

"Seeing if there was a way to make one of these gates work," he admitted.

"And go where?"

"Anywhere's better than here right now."

"Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c will be on their way. If we go charging off to another planet they'll never find us."

"We could leave them a note?"

"Daniel…"

"What are the real chances of them finding us? They have no idea where we are."

"This is all academic. I don't know how this works."

"Couldn't you find out?"

Sam glared at him.

"You spend far too much time with the Colonel."

"Well?"

"Okay Daniel, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You get us something to eat."

Easier said than done.

Muttering to himself, Daniel started back up the tunnel towards the street. Sam was right they needed to eat and stealing food was probably the only way they were going to manage it. He didn't consider himself an expert thief but he'd been in enough dodgy areas of Earth to pick up the basics.

A frost was forming over the city and Daniel seriously thought about stealing some clothes too. The lights were on in the surrounding buildings and the shadows of the city's inhabitants could be seen in the windows. There were a few people in the streets and Daniel did his best to stay out of sight. Taking a closer look, he noticed they had one distinguishing characteristic…

They were all old.

Not just middle aged, but in their seventies and eighties. They moved slowly, purposefully, with the deliberation of age. No wonder the sight of himself and Sam had caused panic. They were lucky they hadn't given the man a heart attack. But he wasn't here to feel sympathy. Moving purposely through the buildings, Daniel tried to find an open door. He was out of luck. The people here didn't leave their doors or windows unlocked at night.

Though this was essentially a dead world, the population had to get their food from somewhere. Even the hamsters had to eat. He was just about ready to go back, when he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. Every city had its dark alleys and Daniel ducked down one of them as he struggled to remain hidden.

The truck was as dilapidated as the rest of the city. Fumes belched from the engine and Daniel found himself choking on the stench of diesel. If it wasn't diesel, then it was something close, which was anachronistic to say the least. Why would a civilisation that had been able to build star ships and wormholes rely on fossil fuel? Unless it was the only power available… or the only one they could still understand.

As he watched, the truck drew to a halt. Two tired old men climbed out and took several packages from the back. They deposited them in nearby doorways before moving on. As soon as they'd vanished, Daniel dashed out of his hiding place and grabbed one of the bundles. He hoped his guess had been right and this was a food drop.

XOXO

There was bread, dried meat and a crumbly substance that reminded Sam of cheese. She was too hungry to question the source of the comestibles. Somehow, the sleep she'd managed to steal hadn't been enough. Now she'd eaten, Sam was feeling weary again.

Sam had been busy while Daniel had been away. Further exploration of the 'gateroom', for want of a better word, had revealed a staircase leading up into the roof. It was there that she found the control centre. It was a disconcerting room. The floor was transparent and Sam found herself standing as if suspended above the platforms. Great for watching the ebb and flow of traffic but not so good for vertigo. Since arriving, Daniel had spent the whole time sat in a corner with his eyes shut. She wasn't sure she could blame him.

"Worked it out yet?" he asked for the fifth time.

"Daniel I'm still eating," she replied.

"Soon would be good."

"I'll be as fast as I can."

She still wasn't convinced of the wisdom of the idea, but as the hours past the doubts were building in her mind. Sam had faith in the Colonel. She was certain he'd do everything in his power to find them, but she had to accept that might not be enough. At least trying to activate one of these wormholes took her mind off the prosaic reality of never seeing her home again.

The systems were old. There was a thick layer of dust everywhere and Sam was certain this wasn't helping. A dirty connection could be all that was stopping her turning the power on. It wasn't as if she kept a naquadah reactor in her pocket.

Naquadah…

Like the Stargates, these were also made of Naquadah. Theoretically, all she needed to do was find some way to charge the capacitors. But for that she needed power which she didn't have…

Unless…

The map. It lit up so it had to have a power source of some kind.

"Daniel…" she began.

"What?"

"Back downstairs."

"Thank you!"

The map wasn't quite so attractive, or quite so functional, by the time Sam had finished with it. By dint of cannibalising the control room, she managed to run a cable back to one of the Gates. Now all they had to do was wait and see if the capacitors would charge. This was a really dumb idea. Sam knew that, but she couldn't stop herself being swept along. Anything was better than sitting here waiting for someone to find them. She knew they could probably survive here indefinitely.

But where was the fun in that?

Two hours later and she had her answer. Without warning, without prelude, the area within the gate started to glow. Sam and Daniel approached it cautiously, treating the unknown phenomena with a healthy respect.

"What do you think?" she whispered.

In reply, Daniel stretched his hand out, watching as it sank below the surface of the wormhole. He drew it back again, clenching and stretching his fingers as he tried to ascertain if any damage had been done.

"Feels okay," he said.

If they went through there and couldn't get back …

Sam though of home, of Pete and Cassandra, and all of the things she would be leaving behind. She thought of the Colonel and how desperate he would be to find them… The logical course of action was to assume they wouldn't be rescued. In which case, didn't it make more sense to get themselves as far away from their captors as possible? She was in command here. It was her decision and she knew Daniel would abide by it.

"I think we should go through," he said, sensing her dilemma.

"But what if…" she started to argue.

"Jack comes to find us?"

"Yeah."

"If he does, then he'll be able to follow the trail."

"Will he?"

"It looks pretty clear to me."

He indicated the wires trailing out towards the map and Sam realised he was right. Besides, she wanted to do this. It burned within her, the same way as her original need to go through the Stargate. She stood before the glowing surface of the active wormhole feeling the same reckless rush of excitement.

"Let's do it," she said.

And together they stepped into the unknown.

XOXO

Felger hadn't spoken a word since they'd left the ship. It was unusual enough that Jack was starting to get worried. He almost considered asking the man what was wrong… almost. Jack really didn't want to get familiar with Felger. As soon as this mission was over the man would be banished back to the labs and never heard from again.

He had been tempted to send Hailey with the Doctor, but his better sense had prevailed. The Lieutenant was young and had a reputation for not being able to hold her temper... okay, so Jack wasn't exactly a saint but he had enough rank to get away with it. And he knew he'd stop short of physical violence.

The silence was starting to get to him and Jack decided to make a wild stab in the dark and find out what was bugging the other man.

"You know if you like her, you should just tell her how you feel," he suggested.

"What?" Felger asked, doing a good impression of a frightened rabbit.

"Chloe."

"Chloe?"

"Your assistant? I just thought maybe…"

"No… no… it would be unprofessional."

"Okay, sorry I spoke."

Jack had never been any good at touchy, feely type conversations, and he wasn't about to hug Felger. They walked on in silence.

"Anyway, what would I say to her?" Felger said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Jack questioned.

"Chloe… I mean she's beautiful, smart..."

Finally, something that Jack could relate to.

"Maybe you don't have to say much," he suggested. "Maybe all you have to do is be yourself. She might like them dumb."

"Dumb?"

"Relatively speaking."

Jack knew that Felger wasn't dumb, not by any stretch of the imagination. However, his PhD wasn't enough to make him worldly wise. Working in academia all of his life, Felger hadn't ever really left school. The SGC had probably been quite a culture shock.

Not that Jack was really in any position to lecture him on women. Over the past few years, his record had been dismal and the reasons weren't something he wanted to go into. He was relieved when he realised they'd reached the Gate.

Felger was instantly distracted.

"This is amazing," he breathed.

"Whatever. Just find a way to get it working."

The other man just nodded in a Daniel-type fashion and Jack did what he always did. He stepped back and let the professional work.

XOXO

Teal'c did not know how to interpret Cameron Balinsky's silence. People usually attempted to start some kind of conversation, taking Teal'c's natural taciturn nature as a challenge. Balinsky had said nothing. In fact, now he thought about it, Teal'c couldn't recall him speaking at all since they'd set off on this mission. Lack of conversation aside, there was more than one reason to feel uncomfortable. Teal'c did not know what O'Neill do if their mission was not successful, but he imagined the response would not be pretty. The pressure to succeed was felt by all.

O'Neill had ordered them to find a library, although what he hoped to discover wasn't entirely clear. Or he could have just been making work for them? It was difficult to tell. This was a new team and more or less unknown, O'Neill was probably wise to test them. Teal'c didn't like to consider the possibility that Major Carter and Daniel wouldn't return. If they did not, would he and O'Neill continue their travels? It was hard to imagine working with a team other than SG-1.

"Does this not appear to be a laboratory?" Teal'c asked his companion as he flashed his torch around the dusty room.

There was no show of interest from Balinsky. He took a cursory look around before moving back out into the corridor. Teal'c was on the edge of becoming annoyed with the man's apathy. They could miss something important.

"Cameron Balinsky!" he called after the man… only to find himself being ignored.

This was not satisfactory. Reaching out a hand, Teal'c grabbed Balinsky by the shoulder and pulled him around.

"You will conduct a satisfactory search of this room," he ordered.

"For what? Dusty beakers?" Balinsky objected. "There's no sign of any data retrieval system."

"How can you be sure if you do not look?"

He might be correct in his assessment but Teal'c was not prepared to take that risk. With very bad grace, Balinsky did as he was ordered.

In one respect, Balinsky had been quite correct. There was a great deal of abandoned equipment. However, there was a door at the other end of the room, which led to another lab, and another. Each was as dusty and deserted as the first. Teal'c could imagine that they had been reserved for the specific disciplines. It also convinced him that they were on the right track. Every scientist needed access to literature.

The final room appeared to be completely empty, but there was something about the wall panels that seemed familiar. Teal'c brushed his hand across one of them and it lit up. Information was flowing across the screen too quickly for him to make any sense of it.

Over his shoulder, he noticed Balinsky was following his example and had activated a second screen.

"Is there any way to slow it down?" he asked.

"The device on the flight deck responded to touch," Teal'c replied.

He tapped the screen in demonstration and the picture froze. As near as Teal'c could tell, each panel appeared to access different information. Video, still pictures, writings… as O'Neill had surmised, the history of an entire civilisation was recorded here.

Teal'c found himself staring at a world totally unlike the others he had seen. The horizon was closer, which suggested the world was a moon rather than a planet. Its small size and corresponding lower gravity, was the only possible explanation for the appearance of the plant life. The trees were taller than any that grew on earth, yet they appeared weak. They grew in isolated groups amongst the long grass, the foliage of both being the palest of green. Boulders of white rock littered the grasslands, standing out against a sky that was deep orange. Although Teal'c could see no dwellings, groups of people could be discerned hurrying across the never-ending plain.

As Teal'c watched, the camera panned around and he was treated to a view of the moon's mother world. It was the Entity's world, gleaming with understated menace.

"Teal'c, look at this!" Balinsky called out, gesturing towards his own screen.

The view showed the depths of space and three ships hanging in the night.

"They must have been built in orbit," the other man went on.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, fascinated by the view.

As they watched, the perspective changed and they found themselves gazing down on the outpost on the barren moon. The ships were descending towards the dome, which was opening to receive them. All of a sudden, one of the ships veered away from the others. Its new trajectory was taking it straight towards the planet but it never reached the surface. Before the collision, explosions wracked the infrastructure and there was nothing left but a fireball, evaporating into space.

Balinsky's face was bleak as he witnessed the destruction. It was impossible to say how many lives had been lost, and Teal'c knew it was useless to speculate.

"We must report back to O'Neill," he announced.

"But what about…" the other man started to argue.

Teal'c allowed himself a small smirk. Anything was better than Balinsky's previous indifference.

"Now," he finished.


	4. Chapter 4

77

"The Gate needs power," Felger argued.

"And for that you'd jeopardise our only way home?" Hailey shouted back.

Jack silently counted to three hundred and fifty two and interjected before the Lieutenant could start screeching again.

"Will it work?" he demanded, "Can we use the hyperdrive from the Prometheus to jump start the gate?"

"Yes," Felger said.

"No," Hailey answered just as promptly.

"Do you have a better idea?" Jack challenged her. He wanted to make certain she wasn't disagreeing just for the hell of it.

Hailey didn't reply.

"There should be some kind of mechanism that opens the dome," Balinsky ventured, "So we can land Prometheus."

"Thank you," Jack said, happy that someone was cooperating. "Take Teal'c and see what you can find."

"Yes sir."

"Hailey, Felger, get your gear together and get back to Prometheus. Tell Ronson to await my orders."

Hailey snapped to attention, even if she didn't seem that happy about it…, which was tough as far as Jack was concerned. The young woman was beginning to piss him off and he was starting to think Carter had been wrong about her. Felger, on the other hand, was practically dancing with joy. Under any other circumstances, Jack would have happily ignored the scientist, but Felger's was the only idea they had.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Jack looked up to realize just himself and Hailey were left in the room.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to hide the weariness in his voice.

"I think you're making a mistake," she continued.

"Oh?"

"You're putting all of our lives at risk."

"Felger seems to think otherwise."

"With due respect, Dr. Felger's track record…"

"He's got to be right some time… and you have been given an order, Lieutenant."

He regarded Hailey with calm indifference until, albeit reluctantly, she started to move away… just as Jack thought he was going to have to send her to the brig for insubordination. She wasn't the first snotty nosed junior officer to give him crap and she certainly wouldn't be the last. God only knew what he'd do if Felger turned out to be wrong, but at least the guy was trying to be a team player.

The young woman turned and walked away, her back straight. Jack knew she was angry with him and wondered if he shouldn't have sent her off with Teal'c. It would have given her something to think about… rather that letting her fester. But she was the best person to make sure that Felger's plan worked.

Since Felger's plan was the only one they had, it was the only way they were going to get Carter and Daniel back…

And the only way Jack could see of saving his sanity.

If it didn't work then… well, he didn't see much of a future for himself at the SGC. Now, more than ever, he realised he didn't want to go out with a team other than SG-1. He was getting too old to put his life in the hands of people he didn't trust.

XOXO

Hailey knew what she was about to do was wrong. She knew that no one would give her any credit but she believed that she was right. Passionately. No one could ever accuse Jennifer Hailey of not caring about her work but as she waited for Colonel Ronson, she did feel a slight sense of guilt. She wasn't doing this for personal glory, or so she kept on telling herself.

And she tried not to think about Major Carter and Dr. Jackson waiting in vain for rescue.

Risking the Prometheus, not to mention its crew for the lives of two people was not the way to go. Many would have said that both Major Carter and Dr. Jackson were vital to the success of the SGC but Hailey took a more pragmatic view. No one was indispensable.

"Something I can do for you, Lieutenant?" Ronson asked as he joined her in his office.

Office was a grand term for what amounted to a room not much larger than a storage closet but it was somewhere he could talk to members of his crew in private.

"Sir, I…" Hailey began, and then she stopped. This was far harder than she'd thought.

"Well," he pressed

"It's about Colonel O'Neill."

"What about him?"

"I think he's letting his personnel feelings influence his decisions. In my estimation, this idea of Felger's has a low chance of success. Worst case scenario, the hyperdrive engines will go critical."

Ronson leaned back on his chair and stared at her.

"You want me to override Colonel O'Neill's orders?" he asked.

Hailey felt herself going red. "I think there are other options."

"Which are?"

"I don't know. I just need more time…"

"Time which Major Carter and Dr. Jackson may not have."

"We can't risk all our lives…"

"But Colonel O'Neill has made his decision and I'm not in a position to change his mind. You're dismissed."

And that was that. Before she knew what was happing. Hailey found herself outside the office… without really knowing how she had got there. The last person she expected to find waiting for her was Colonel O'Neill.

He was leaning against the bulkhead inspecting his nails. She tried to walk by without acknowledging him, but he put out his arm to stop her.

"Ronson didn't go for it, did he?"

"I don't know what you mean, sir."

"I'm not as dumb as I make out Lieutenant."

He couldn't be that much of an idiot and reach the rank of Colonel, Hailey thought but she kept the words to herself.

"You're lucky the Stargate on Earth is out of commission otherwise I'd toss you back through it," he warned. "Now don't you have someplace else to be?"

Hailey saluted in reply. She couldn't bring herself to respond verbally.

"Thought so," he said and sauntered away.

She wanted to hit something… preferably O'Neill, but she knew she couldn't risk an assault charge on top of the negative report he was bound to give. How the hell had he known? She hadn't told anyone she was going to see Ronson. Hailey had trouble believing that O'Neill had any kind of sixth sense. Maybe he really was that good? Even though most of the time he didn't look like he was even paying attention. However much it annoyed her to accept it, she knew O'Neill had caught her out fair and square… at least this time.

XOXO

It was a jungle.

At least that was how the planet appeared at first. The heat, the humidity, the lush vegetation… it was like stepping into a sauna. It was only as her eyes adjusted to the dim, green light, that Sam realised she and Daniel were standing in the centre of a city. She could just about make out the outlines of the buildings.

The wormhole they had passed through was still active. Glancing back over her shoulder, Sam was able to catch a reassuring glimpse of the world they had left behind. This wormhole technology was very different from their own. There had been none of the usual giddiness or disorientation as they'd passed through. Sam would like to have taken a closer look, but she could tell that Daniel was eager to start exploring.

Daniel seemed strangely at home, as he plunged into the jungle. The vegetation surrounding them was dense. Sam could only imagine that it had once been a park, which, through a combination of time and neglect had overrun the city. Sam realised that this was probably Daniel's idea of heaven. A whole network of abandoned planets for him to explore, without the added complication of miscellaneous bad guys trying to kill him. In the Colonel's absence, Sam felt it was her duty to throw him a note of caution. Unlike the world they had just left, this planet felt very much alive. There might not be any human life but…

"Careful, Daniel, we don't know what's out there," she called after him as he disappeared from view.

"I think there was some kind of water feature here," he shouted back, "make sure you don't…"

Just as Sam sank to her knees in mud.

"Found it," she replied.

Okay so maybe it wasn't Daniel who needed to be more careful.

The deeper they plunged into the jungle, the more Sam started to wonder as to the function of this place. Daniel's water feature had turned out to be an elaborately designed fountain. They also passed several examples of what had to be the local equivalent of sculpture. The subjects were abstract in the extreme and Sam actually found them uncomfortable to look at.

Even the buildings seemed to be more artistic than functional. Sam and Daniel found themselves standing before an elegant spire that stretched far above the canopy. The structure with coated with a substance reminiscent of mother of pearl and it gleamed in the dim light.

"Ladies first," Daniel offered, gesturing towards the door.

"Thanks," Sam muttered, but she did go in first.

The walls were translucent and what light there was outside illuminated the interior. Dirt and rotting vegetation covered the floor and Sam nearly gagged as she breathed the fetid air.

Directly opposite the entrance a set of stairs wound its way upwards. Figuring they had little to lose, Sam led the way up. If nothing else, once they were above the trees, they would be able to see the lay of the land.

"You'd think a civilization advanced enough to build a wormhole system would think of installing an elevator," Daniel panted.

Sam nodded, having no breath for talking. The same thought had been running through her mind. She hoped, when they got to the top, the view would be worth it but she couldn't help noticing that the light was dying.

"We're going all the way to the top aren't we?" He added.

"Yes," she replied.

"Great."

"You could wait for me here."

"Uh… I don't think so."

By the time they finally hauled themselves up the last of the stairs the land below was dark… but the sky…

"My God!" Sam breathed.

"What?"

Daniel was deliberately not looking anywhere but the floor.

"The stars."

Old, livid, swollen suns were scattered across the sky in every direction. Planetary nebula, stars so feint that they could only be white dwarfs. Nothing she could see burned young and hot.

"Sam?" Daniel asked.

He wanted clarification, but she was at a loss for words. Sam didn't know how to explain this. The night sky on Earth was scattered with stars in all stages of evolution. Even on other worlds, they had never seen a sky as old as this... apart from the planet they had just left. Wherever they were, it was a long, long way from home.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," she murmured.

Was it like this everywhere? And why?

Then, as she turned, Sam saw something that made heart falter. Hanging in the sky far too close for comfort was a black hole. She remembered a time when they had just been an astrophysical curiosity, but she had seen far too many of them recently. Up close, they weren't nearly as fascinating.

She had the irrational urge to run away from it, but knew how useless that action would be. Not to mention suicidal. Sam wasn't even sure if it was wise to try to get down the stairs in the dark, never mind at any kind of speed.

"Daniel, this isn't our universe," she said.

"Excuse me?" he questioned.

"This place is far, far older. There isn't a young star in the sky. The Stargate system uses intra-universe wormholes. I'm guessing what we came through from the Alpha Site..."

"Went inter-universe?"

"And unless we can find the one that brought us here…"

"Then there's no way home."

XOXO

No way home. Daniel had said the words himself but he hadn't expected Sam to agree with him. He hoped this was one of the rare occasions she was wrong. Not for the first time, he wished that Jack were here. Sometimes he was the only one who could motivate Sam to find another way.

Of course, it would help if they could get out of this jungle. With the fall of night, there was no way they were going to find their way back to the wormhole. Staying right where they were was the most sensible option… even if it wasn't the most comfortable one. He doubted that either of them would get much sleep. Not overshadowed as they were by the dying stars. Intellectually, Daniel knew that the end of the universe would be a long way in the future… billions of years, even in a place this old.

How would it end, he wondered.

In a bang or a whimper?

With fire or ice?

No doubt, Sam could have told him, but Daniel wasn't really in the mood for conversation. He was too busy listening. It seemed that plants weren't the only life here. They were far above the canopy, but the distance wasn't enough to dull the animalistic cries. Something down below was being killed and eaten. Either that or it was some really weird mating ritual. Instinctively, Daniel crossed his legs. He was feeling very exposed.

"What was that?" Sam suddenly asked.

Her voice sounded strained and Daniel realised he wasn't the only one who was a little freaked.

"Outside?" he said.

"No… on the stairs."

She had to be imagining things, didn't she? Daniel crept towards the stairs and looked down. Was that something moving in the darkness? Then he heard it, a low scrape of claws on a hard surface.

"There it is again," she hissed.

Whatever it was it had to be pretty determined to climb up this far. Staying up here wasn't looking like such a great idea. They were unarmed, and had nowhere to run. Sam may have had Level Three (Advanced) unarmed combat but he doubted that would be of much use here. Of course, whatever it was could turn out to be harmless, but Daniel doubted it somehow.

"Look," he whispered.

A pair of eyes had appeared in the darkness. Blue eyes. Somehow, he hadn't expected them to look quite so … intelligent? This was great. He was going to die, not just on an unknown planet but in a completely different universe. A low growl echoed through the confined space. All Daniel could think of was Jack and how much he'd hate this cliché. Maybe if they kept very, very still…? But whatever it was, it had caught their scent.

When it attacked, it did so silently. Daniel had a brief glimpse of dark fur, and elegant face that was half-feline, half disturbingly human, before he was unceremoniously shoved out of the way. Sam was between him and the beast. Daniel heard himself yell out a warning, useless though it might have been. She knew where it was and what it was capable of doing. Without a second thought, he scrambled to his feet, intending to help her… but someone else got there first.

The concussion from the weapon sounded unnaturally loud.

Once…

Twice…

Three times before Daniel heard the muffled thump of something very large hitting the ground. In the dim light, he could see that the animal was large. Sam's body lay beneath it, struggling to free herself as it twitched in its death throws.

"Help me," Daniel snapped the order as he shoved ineffectually at the creature.

It took both of them to shift the dead weight. Daniel was relieved to see Sam struggle free.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

He could see something dark marring the flesh on her arm.

"What about this?"

"It's just a scratch."

She snatched the arm away from him and Daniel realised it was useless to press the issue. Together, they turned to greet their rescuer.

He was a tall man, roughly the same build as Teal'c. His pale face was deeply lined, and Daniel put his age, as somewhere in his late sixties despite the fact his hair was still black.

"Thank you," Daniel said.

The man nodded. He seemed more interested in the corpse of the animal he had killed.

"I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Sam Carter… and you are…?"

"Johan," he grunted.

"How did you find us?" Sam asked.

"The pathway was open. I followed."

"Well, we're very grateful," Daniel said.

But Johan had turned his attention to disembowelling the beast.

"We have little fresh meat," he explained.

"We?" Daniel questioned.

"Of the City. Those who were left behind."

XOXO

The raw meat stank. Sam would have refused to carry it if they hadn't been dependant on the good graces of Johan. He had saved her life. The fact it was still dark didn't help matters and they were forced to stumble along after their guide. Sam still had no idea how he had managed to find them… or why? He could have just shut the wormhole down. Whatever, Johan didn't appear to be willing to talk about it. Daniel had tried several times to engage the other man in conversation, only to receive monosyllabic replies.

Sam's arm was starting to throb. They had no first aid kit, so she'd washed and bound it as well as she was able, but there was no telling how clean the water was. It just seemed a better option that whatever was in the animal's saliva. No doubt, the Colonel would have had something to say about her lack of regard for safety.

She had doubts about heading back to the city, but she didn't see they had a lot of choice. It wasn't as if this place offered them a better alternative. At least they had Johan as a friend… or she hoped he was. The fact he had come after them seemed a good enough reason to trust him although there was the thought that his ultimate aim might be to hand them over to their former captors.

The embarkation area was still deserted. Johan pulled the power cable free as he walked past and the wormhole shut down.

"Come," he told them as he led the way up to the city.

The house he took them to was close to the wormhole facility. If they were seen by any of the other inhabitants, no one drew attention to the fact. The interior of the building was far more welcoming than it seemed from outside. Johan appeared to live in one room but it was warm and it was comfortable. There was a fire burning, and the smell of dinner cooking. He gestured to the cushions that were scattered around and Sam sank down gratefully. She was starting to realise how long it had been since she'd had eight hours sleep.

"Here," Johan said as he handed her a bowl.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

Sam couldn't identify most of what was in the stew, but it tasted good.

"You both need rest."

"Wait a minute…" Daniel started to protest.

But Johan was no longer listening. He turned away from them and started to unpack the meat. Sam was happy to let questions wait until morning. Trying to shift herself into a comfortable position, she shut her eyes.

Sam didn't know how long she slept, but nothing short of a volcanic eruption would have stopped her getting eight hours. She opened her eyes to darkness. The fired had died and there was a definite chill in the room. Sam pulled the rough blankets more tightly about her body…

Then she realised there was no sign of their host.

If Daniel hadn't been snoring, Sam would have been swearing loudly to herself. How could she have been so stupid? You didn't automatically trust someone just because they happened to save your life! Looking about her, Sam could see the door leading back to the street was still shut and bolted from the inside. Somewhat relieved, she started to search for another way out.

The door was hidden behind a wall hanging and turned out to be the source of the draft of cold air that had woken Sam up. She found herself walking through an empty room. At one time, this must have been home to a large family, she realised. Was Johan the only one left? She followed the chill up a set of stairs, wandering through deserted bedrooms until she found herself on a balcony overlooking the city.

Johan was there.

He turned as he heard her approach.

"Hi," she ventured, realising that, with this man, she was going to have to talk first.

"How is your arm?" he asked.

"Fine," she lied.

"Let me see."

Before she could move out of the way, Johan grabbed her arm and pushed back the sleeve of her sweater. Sam winced as he did so, making no move to hide the angry red wound.

"When the sun rises I will see what medication I can find," he said.

"Thank you."

He turned back to gaze over the city. Now she had the chance to look at him more closely, Sam started to wonder how old Johan actually was. From his face, Sam would have guess he was no older than the Colonel, but something about his attitude spoke of a greater age. His eyes were those of a man facing his final years.

Strangely enough, the silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. Sam stood beside him, eyes turned towards the sky, content to wait. Eventually her patience was rewarded.

"The stars weren't always this way," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember a time when they burned brightly in the sky. Over the years many of them faded and died."

"How? I mean it should take millions of years…"

"The universe abhors our presence."

"That's…"

"Crazy? Then how do you explain the decline?"

"I can't."

It was rare for Sam to be this confused, but she really had no idea what he was talking about. A civilization, however advanced, couldn't possibly have had a significant effect on the ageing of the universe.

"My race was already old when we were forced to flee from our home," he went on. "We came here hoping for salvation. Come."

The balcony circled the building and Sam followed Johan until they were standing on the opposite side.

"That is where we appeared in the sky," he said pointing upwards.

And Sam found herself looking into the eye of another black hole… at least that what it looked like… unless…

"It's the other end of the inter-universe wormhole!" she exclaimed.

"I do not understand your words," Johan said.

"We'd better go and wake Daniel."

All the pieces were starting to fall into place and Sam didn't want to leave him out of this. Johan looked bemused by her enthusiasm. In this world, it seemed unlikely that anyone would get excited by anything.

XOXO

Daniel was understandably grumpy when Sam shook him awake, especially as there was no chance of coffee. However, his bad temper quickly evaporated after Sam's hurried explanation.

"So they came to this universe from another one… similar to the way the transport system works," he said as he tried to assemble the information.

"Yes. When our ships first sought out new routes, they would appear in the sky above the new world. The ring was then constructed…" Johan agreed.

"To fix the other end of the wormhole on the planet's surface… which is why the wormhole was attracted to the Stargate..." Sam added.

"Star…?"

"Chaapa'ai? Ring of the Gods?" Daniel supplied.

"Yes, there was one on our homeworld. It was used as the basis of our technology."

"But the other wormholes, they all stay in this universe?"

"We could never reproduce the power of the first experiment."

Which made sense. Given the amount of power need to 'gate to another galaxy the amount required to travel to another universe… Sam could probably run the calculations in her head, but Daniel just knew that it was a big number.

"What happened then?" he asked.

Concern was etched into his features. His question wasn't just one of intellectual curiosity. He was truly afraid for these people.

"All things come to an end," Johan said. "The stars started to die and many of our worlds suffered the same fate. The people were called home."

"So where are they?" Sam said.

"Their bodies are kept outside the city."

"We know the place," Daniel admitted.

"They will never sicken or grow old… yet their bodies are nothing more than an empty shell. Their minds are blended into a gestalt. It contains everything we were… and everything we will ever be."

"And the rest of you?"

"The old, the infirm, those who did not wish to enter the gestalt were left here to live out our lives as best we could. The end is close now. I was the last child born to this world and I will be the last to die."

Without another word, Johan rose and left the room.

"He didn't explain what the hamsters were doing," Daniel said.

"You want to go and ask him?" Sam replied.

"Uh… I guess he wants to be alone right now."

"They're probably servants of some kind."

"So you definitely think these people came from P9C-372?"

"The Gate technology is the same, even if it doesn't appear as advanced."

"Do you blame them? I mean their civilisation was almost destroyed by an artificial intelligence. It stands to reason they wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

They were silent for a while, each of them trying to process the information they'd just received. He may have been jumping to conclusions but Daniel had the feeling this gestalt wasn't a passive entity. Something had to be responsible for dragging himself and Sam here. He recalled the place he had woken up and the alien life forms that had also been trapped there. What if it knew its universe was dying and was trying to find a way back home?

"How long do you think this place has got?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know. From what Johan said, their presence started the decline. There has to be something… Daniel, near as I can figure, the wormhole system is tearing their universe apart," Sam said. "And if we don't stop them, they're going to do the same to ours."

XOXO

The F302 was in perfect working order… but that didn't stop Jack checking and double checking the systems. It was more than a way to pass the time. Over his years with the Air Force, he'd never taken a bird up into the air without giving the plane a personal once over. If he checked it over himself, he had no one else to blame if something went wrong, although strange Goa'uld devices that sent you half way across the solar system were an exception.

And it helped to keep his mind off Daniel and Carter.

He felt more at home here than he did amongst the geeks down below. Although he supposed he should go check on them… just to make sure Hailey hadn't strangled Felger.

Flying was something he understood. By human standards, Jack was a pretty good pilot. Trying to keep up his flight time had been a major hassle over the years but he liked to keep his skills honed. At times like this, it proved vital.

With regret, Jack left the hanger, to see to his other duties. He really wasn't in the mood for another fight. If Hailey started something, Jack wasn't going to be responsible for his actions. He knew inexperience had sent her running to Ronson, that and an unshakeable conviction that she alone was right. Despite her intelligence, Hailey would never be another Sam Carter. She lacked the other woman's the ability to admit her own mistakes.

"Good morning campers," he grinned as he walked into the drive room.

As he expected, the personnel in the room glared at him in annoyance. It was a carefully studied technique. If they were annoyed with him, they were less likely to argue with each other. Jack was happy to let them believe that he'd gotten a good night's sleep while they'd worked through the night.

"How's it going, Felger?" Jack asked.

"Great… just… great…," the other man replied.

"Actually sir, we're having a little trouble with the interface," Chloe added. "We're not drawing enough power."

Hailey, Jack noticed, looked up as she overheard the exchange, but she didn't say anything.

"Lieutenant?" he questioned. "You have something to add?"

"I think we need to patch in the weapons systems, sir," she said.

"The Asgard dohickeys?"

"It should give us the extra kick we need."

"Wouldn't that leave the Prometheus defenceless?"

"We'd still have the conventional weapons and the rest of the F302s."

But it was a long way home. Taking out the engines was one thing, the crew could gate to a safe world and contact one of the allies, but Jack felt there was something fundamentally wrong about disabling the weapons.

"It's the only way?" he asked.

"I think so, sir," Hailey replied.

"Felger?"

"We definitely need more power," the man agreed.

"Do it," Jack ordered, hoping he wouldn't regret his decision.

Was this going one-step too far in his quest to retrieve his missing team members? Jack had to keep reminding himself there was more a stake here than Carter and Daniel's lives. The force that had taken them was obviously belligerent, and had essentially isolated Earth from its allies.

He hated to second-guess himself, but right now, he had little else to occupy his thoughts. Sometimes he wished he'd paid more attention in Science 101. At least then, he could have helped the geeks, rather than having nothing else to do apart from sit back and worry. More than anything else, Jack wished Carter were here. He'd give anything to see her smile as she spouted one of her theories. He'd know everything was going to be okay because… well… because she was Carter.

And Daniel. Jack could just see him sleeping in some awkward position, glasses askew, ancient text clasped in his hand. He wouldn't be able to help much but somehow it was comforting to know he was there… just in case an emergency translation was required.

Leaving the scientists to finish their work, Jack found himself gravitating towards the commissary. He wasn't hungry; he was just looking for something to do to pass the time. It seemed that Teal'c had the same idea. The other man was sitting with a tray full of food in front of him, but he didn't appear that interested in eating it.

"Getting to you, too?" Jack asked as he took the seat opposite.

Merely raising an eyebrow, Teal'c took a forkful of his cannelloni in an attempt to convince Jack the waiting around wasn't bothering him.

"Wanna see if we can find somewhere quiet to beat crap out of each other?" Jack offered.

Teal'c raised his other eyebrow.

"Okay, so you'll beat crap out of me, but who's counting?"

"I believe physical activity would provide a welcome diversion," Teal'c said.

XOXO

"That's it," Jay said.

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked.

"I think so. I mean I…"

"He's sure," Hailey interrupted.

Somehow, Major Carter's inventions always managed to look neater. They never had wires trailing all over the place, they never emitted sparks and they certainly didn't smell like burning socks. But that didn't mean this wasn't going to work…

"Do you want to tell Colonel O'Neill?" Jay offered.

"Oh no," Hailey replied, "this one's all yours."

Jay had the feeling she was just waiting to see him fail. He glanced at Chloe who smiled at him.

"Right… I'll just go and… right…"

Find Colonel O'Neill.

XOXO

Jack was nervous. He was sitting in the front seat of an X302, Teal'c in another. Under normal circumstances, they would have shared a single craft, but this was different. They had two people to bring home.

They had one shot. From what Jack had seen Felger's device and it looked as if it was about to fly apart at the seams. When it failed, the Prometheus would have to limp home as best it could. Whether or not Jack and Teal'c would be on board was a question no one could answer. Even if the device worked, there was no guarantee it would power the wormhole.

"Jack? You all set?" Ronson questioned.

"Ready when you are," Jack replied. "Open the Gate every twenty four hours."

"We'll keep the door open for you."

"And if we're not back in a week, head back home."

"Understood."

The two craft were poised at the far end of the dome. Far enough away to avoid any possible Kawoosh if the 'Gate opened. That was assuming there was a Kawoosh...

Damn but he was starting to think like Carter.

"And in five, four, three, two, one..."

Nothing happened. At least that was what Jack thought at first. As he stared at the 'gate, he thought he could detect a lessening of the darkness within. The surface seemed to be shifting. The ring surrounding it was glowing.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered as he sent his craft shooting forwards.

Jack was tempted to close his eyes as they made the approach. He wasn't entirely convinced that they weren't going to crash into the wall. Somehow, when he reached it, the wall just wasn't there anymore.

There was a moment of intense dislocation, far worse than anything Jack usually experienced going through a conventional Stargate. He had a hard time keeping his breakfast in his stomach, never mind keeping the ship on an even course. Over his headset, Jack distinctly heard a grunt from the usually stoic Teal'c and he hoped it was a comment on the general discomfort rather than the quality of the flying.

It got a whole lot worse before it got better. The X302 started to vibrate and it was all Jack could do to hold her. If he lost concentration for a second… The ship felt like it was shaking apart. Just when he thought he couldn't hold on any longer, something shifted and Jack found himself staring at a planet. It was close… too close… he had to pull up sharply to stop them hitting the atmosphere at speed. As the ship spun, he got a good look at the other end of the wormhole.

"Teal'c, does that look like…?" he began.

"It does," the other man replied.

"Right."

Jack was willing to bet it wasn't actually a black hole, at least not in the way he understood. When he found Cater, he'd get her to explain. Black holes aside, the stars in the sky were nothing like the ones above P9C-372.

"I guess we made it," Jack muttered. "Wanna go down and take a look?"

"There is no guarantee that this is where Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were taken," Teal'c cautioned.

"I know… but we have to start somewhere."

If Daniel and Carter weren't here then they may as well give up and go home. Assuming they could get home. Jack was all too aware that this was more or less a one-way trip. He was kind of counting on Carter to be able to get them back… that meant they had to find her.

They hit turbulence has they entered the atmosphere, but nothing as bad as they had experienced coming through the wormhole. As they dipped below the clouds, Jack started searching for signs of civilisation. He'd been working with Daniel long enough to recognise the areas where the cities and the towns had been, a network of roads, irrigation systems… but no people. The civilization had fallen some time ago.

The fuel for the X302 was limited and Jack had to make the decision whether to stay or try another planet in the system. His gut was telling him that this was the place. Either that or he had indigestion.

Jack took the X302 over the ocean. This world had a higher proportion of land than Earth and it wasn't long before they found themselves flying across a new continent. It looked a lot like the first one. There did not seem to be much variation in the terrain, no forests or mountains. The sky was distressingly clear… even if the sun was dim.

Jack found himself almost growing bored.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted suddenly.

Straining his eyes, Jack could just about make out the hazy outlines of a city. On a clear day, it could have been a heat haze, but somehow he didn't think it was that warm outside. Jack was willing to bet good money that what Teal'c had spotted was smoke.

Grinning to himself, he turned the small craft towards it.

XOXO

"And in five, four, three, two, one…" Colonel Ronson was saying.

On cue, Felger hit the switch that initiated the power transfer…

… And the ship was plunged into darkness.

"Nothing to worry about!" Felger called out, "I expected a system drain."

As the minutes ticked by, it became obvious that this wasn't just a simple power outage. Even the emergency lights were out. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jennifer Hailey couldn't help a small smirk of triumph. She had been right about Felger's plan all along and it did matter… whatever Colonel O'Neill might say. They were lucky she was here to get them out of this mess.

It sounded like there was someone whimpering in the darkness… probably Felger. Hailey ignored him. If she remembered rightly, there was a torch around here somewhere. Fumbling under a nearby consol her fingers soon found the welcome weight of the flash light and she switched it on. As she expected Felger had collapsed in a corner and was hyperventilating. Hailey decided to leave him there with Chloe. She'd take care of him.

"I'm going to report to the bridge," she said.

Ronson needed to know what had happened, and that it had been Felger's fault.

Luckily, when the power had gone out, all of the doors had opened, but Hailey still had to rely on ladders to get up to the bridge… not much fun for someone of her diminutive stature. She didn't meet many people on her way. Most of the crew had the sense to stay put.

"Hailey, what the hell went wrong?" Ronson demanded as soon as she set foot on the bridge.

"Unknown at the moment, sir," she replied. "Has there been any communication from Colonel O'Neill?"

"I had someone stick their head outside. Since there doesn't appear to have been a crash I think we can assume he got through."

"That's good to know."

"Sure… assuming they don't actually want to come back again."

"Yes, sir."

"So get back down there and fix it."

"With due respect, even if we do manage to get they systems back on line, we may not be able to stop the same thing happening again."

"Then the safety of this ship is your highest priority."

Hailey nodded but didn't comment. If he'd listened to her in the first place … The implications of his order were quite clear, but for some reason it made her uncomfortable. If they couldn't open the Gate again, without endangering the ship then SG-1 would be left behind. Hailey wanted to believe they'd find their own way back, but somehow, she couldn't quite convince herself.

"And Lieutenant?" Ronson added.

"Yes, sir."

"In this instance, it might not be wise to rely on Dr. Felger."

"Yes, sir."

That, at least she could agree with. The man had proved himself a menace. He should go back to university and stay there.

Hailey had to push away her doubts. Felger seemed to have regained some of his composure by the time she got back. He was waiting eagerly by the door. If he'd had a tail, he would have been wagging it.

"I had some ideas of how we can fix this…" he began.

"I'm fixing this, Felger," Hailey told him.

"How can I help?"

"By keeping out of my way. Chloe, could you hold the torch please?"

"But Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c… I have to do something."

"Once the power's back, we're going home."

XOXO

Sam had never thought of herself as prone to wishful thinking, but she could have sworn she heard the dull roar of an X302. She looked up into the sky, but found it difficult to see through the haze of smoke that hung over the city.

It was early morning. Johan had woken them an hour ago and told them to follow. Sam would have appreciated breakfast before starting on the hike, but nothing was offered. She was tired, hungry and she had no idea where they were going… not an ideal combination. The one consolation was that Daniel seemed worse of than she was. He was walking beside her, stumbling occasionally, in a way he hadn't done since first joining SG-1. When she asked what was wrong, he just said he had a headache. Sam didn't know whether to believe him or not. Daniel was as prone to pulling a macho act as any of them.

They had left the city some time ago. Retracing the path she and Daniel had taken when they'd first made their escape. When they reached the ravine however, Johan turned left, leading them along the bank of the river. The path they were following was barely visible as the ground became rougher Sam found herself stumbling almost as much as Daniel did. She wanted to put it down to the fact that she hadn't had any breakfast, but the throbbing in her arm told her otherwise. There was little doubt in her mind that the wound had become infected. Given the nonexistent state of the medical facilities here, she knew either she'd survive or she wouldn't. There wasn't any point in worrying about it… as long as they didn't have to do any rock climbing.

As they walked on Sam began to wonder if some scrambling wouldn't be in order. There were no mountains, the landscape remained flat, but the path they were following was dipping steeply. Rocky walls rose above them as they followed the river downwards. The path stopped abruptly as the ground fell away and the river tumbled over the cliff in a swirl of foam.

Following Johan's lead, Sam stepped closer to the precipice to stare into the canyon beyond.

"My God!" she breathed.

They had to be a mile above the floor, but even that distance couldn't diminish the size of the Gates embedded into the rocky walls. She counted three, with a forth under construction. The 'hamsters' were swarming all over it. There were so many of them that Sam could only imagine that it wouldn't take them very long to complete their task.

"Is there a way down?" she asked.

"Sam?" Daniel questioned.

"If we can destroy the gates…"

"Then what's to stop them building new ones?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can't do anything other than slow them down but we have to do something."

"What are those things anyway?"

Daniel addressed his question to Johan, pointing at the hamsters, trying to obtain the information he had failed to get the previous night.

"The natives of this world. They serve," the other man replied.

"Right, very informative," Daniel muttered.

"This way."

The path Johan took was easier than Sam expected. Although, if he hadn't been with them, she doubted they would ever have found it. She felt exposed as they picked their way down the cliff, despite the fact they were hidden by the waterfall. If one of those creatures happened to look up…

The rocks became progressively more slippery the further down they went. Their progress was slow by necessity, but Sam found herself frustrated by the delay. She felt she was very close to an important discovery… or another opportunity to save the Earth. She wasn't certain which. If Daniel would just hurry up…

At first, she thought it was just his fear of heights slowing him down, but once they reached the bottom he didn't seem to want to pick the pace up. Now that Sam looked at him, he did look grey around the eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Headache," he grimaced, "forgot to bring the Tylenol."

"You want to go back?"

"And miss this?"

Johan started to lead them towards the nearest gate but Sam stopped him.

"Is there some kind of control centre?" she asked.

"The others are in control. There is a computer interface but..."

"I thought you people didn't use computers?" Daniel was quick to point out.

"There was no other way."

He set off again, with Daniel and Sam following at a more sedate pace. Sam was having trouble containing her excitement.

"You know what this means?" she whispered to him. "If we can find a way to get to the computer…"

"We can put a stop to this?" he replied. "I don't know what our friend would say to that."

Daniel had a point. Who knew what effect destroying the computer would have. Sam didn't know how many souls were caught up in the gestalt, but she didn't think she could be responsible for their deaths. They would have to know a lot more about it before embarking on an all out attack. Not that they had anything to attack with, but Sam had watched every episode of MacGyver, not to mention the episode of Star Trek were Captain Kirk made gun powder… she was sure she could find a way.

"Where's it drawing power from?" she asked when they finally stood below the massive gate.

"From the earth itself," Johan replied.

"The rocks must be impregnated with Naquadah," Sam said.

As soon as she put her hand on the canyon wall, she could feel the buzz of the strange element resonating with her blood.

"Uh Sam…" Daniel began.

She looked round at him, and then up at the rock. There was a furred face looking down at them, its expression curious.

"I think we'd better get out of here," she muttered.

The creature screamed as they started to walk away, its cry echoing through the canyon.

"Crap," Sam swore under her breath as they started to run.

The cliffs seemed to be swarming with the creatures. Sam could see it now; they'd been allowed to walk in, like rats into a trap. They ran back towards the waterfall. She had little time to think of the treacherous pathway. It might as well have been flat given the speed they ran up. The narrow path meant their pursuers were forced to travel in single file, and Sam risked a look back as she scrambled over the top. Their chances of getting back to the city were slim to none and she found herself deliberately holding back. Maybe the creatures would be satisfied with just one of them and her capture might allow Johan and Daniel to escape.

She was already some way behind when she saw Daniel drop to the ground. At first she thought he'd tripped but when he didn't rise, Sam accelerated to catch up. There wasn't time for a diagnosis.

"Get him out of here," she snapped the order.

Johan hauled Daniel upright and, half carrying, half dragging him, started to run. Sam did the same, but in the opposite direction. She had no choice. She had to distract the 'hamsters'.

They seemed slightly surprised by her actions. As she ran towards them, she noticed them hesitate… and then they stopped. The expression on their faces was slightly curious as they regarded her. Sam found herself standing still as they approached, their noses twitching as they scented the air around her. She wondered if they could sense her thoughts. After a long moment, they came closer, their bodies pressing against her. It was all Sam could do not to scream as the scent for rancid meat assaulted her. For some reason they freaked her out far worse than any aliens she had previously met.

In the distance, she heard a roar and hoped it wasn't some other enemy on this alien world homing in on Daniel and Johan. But the scream of jets wasn't something native. Heat washed over her as two craft passed overhead and the back draft nearly knocked her flat. Sam managed to keep her feet but her attackers weren't so lucky. They didn't look nearly so dangerous when they were on their backs with their little legs scrabbling in the air. Those that managed to keep their feet ran away as the craft turned to make a second pass. The rest scrambled up and fled as the ship fired a missile into the canyon. The gates were made of Naquadah and the damage was likely to be minimal, but the hamsters didn't know that.

Unable to move, Sam watched as the ships made another graceful turn and started to descend. Then she started running again. The flat ground above the riverbed would make an ideal runway and Sam headed towards it. She arrived just in time to see the ships land.

They had barely come to a halt before the pilots popped their respective canopies and two tall figures climbed out.

Sam found herself hurling herself at them, becoming caught in a tangle of arms and legs as she tried to hug both men simultaneously.

XOXO

Teal'c's powers of observation were somewhat legendary, but even he was proud of himself for managing to spot Major Carter's blonde head in amongst the sea of other creatures. He did not know what the alien species were but they certainly had little courage. They had run away as soon as O'Neill had fired upon them.

And to attack an unarmed person in such numbers…

Major Carter had none of their weaknesses. As soon as she had completed her exuberant greeting, she had gasped out,

"Daniel's in trouble."

O'Neill immediately started running in the direction she'd indicated.

"You are also injured," Teal'c stated.

Major Carter was clutching her arm, which he noticed was covered by a dirty bandage.

"It's nothing," she said.

He ignored her protest however and returned to his X302 to retrieve the first aid kit. Major Carter did not attempt to resist as he expertly cleaned and bound her wound. It was inflamed, he noted, but he did not think the injury was life threatening.

"How did you find us?" she asked as she experimentally flexed her arm.

"Through the efforts of Doctor Felger, Cameron Balinsky and Lieutenant Hailey," he replied.

"Felger?"

"Indeed."

Something in his tone must have indicated his own surprise because she started to laugh.

"I guess we're not the only ones capable of saving the world," she smiled.

"Come, we must attend to Daniel Jackson."

Taking the medical supplies with them, they headed towards the three other men. They were a surprising distance away and Teal'c found himself wondering why Major Carter had become separated. O'Neill was bent over his friend, exchanging whispered words with the third member of the party.

"Teal'c, this is Johan," Sam made the introduction.

The other man nodded, but did not speak.

"Carter, did he touch anything, do anything…?" O'Neill demanded.

"Not to my knowledge, sir. I was the only one injured. He just collapsed."

"He's completely unresponsive."

"Sir, those creatures will be back. We should get Daniel to the city."

"Yeah… Carter, you think there's somewhere there we can stash the planes."

"I think so, sir."

"Then take one and Daniel back. We'll follow."

The two of them hefted Daniel's unconscious body between them. He showed no signs of regaining consciousness as they manoeuvred his dead weight into the rear seat of the X302. Standing clear, they watched as Major Carter expertly guided the small craft into the sky. Although Teal'c was certain it was painful, her injury didn't appear to be affecting her piloting skills.

"After you," O'Neill said to Johan.

The other man led them towards the city. Although O'Neill tried to engage him in conversation, he proved to be taciturn as Teal'c himself. It was difficult to judge whether Johan could be trusted or not. The fact he had helped their friends should have been enough, but Teal'c knew from experience that O'Neill would require more evidence before he put his faith in this man.

It was good to feel the dirt of another world beneath his feet, even if it wasn't particularly attractive. SG-1 was together again, the way it should be. Even if they never managed to get home, Teal'c took some solace in the fact he was with his friends.

They met Major Carter in what appeared to be a transport terminal. She had taken the X302 through a tunnel barely larger than a Stargate.

"Nice," O'Neill said in recognition of her achievement.

"Why thank you, sir," she grinned at him.

As they two of them climbed back up to the cockpit to release Daniel from his restraints, Johan took Teal'c to one side.

"They are married?" he asked, gesturing towards O'Neill and Major Carter.

"No," Teal'c replied. "But they are bonded."

It wasn't a lie, not exactly. Teal'c had been in the room and witnessed their confessions…

… Held Major Carter as she wept over her inability to find O'Neill.

… Watched as O'Neill tore himself apart whilst Major Carter was lost on the Prometheus.

… Pretended not to notice on the rare occasions they shared an embrace.

No, it wasn't a lie. Even though Pete Shanahan had since arrived on the scene, Teal'c did not believe the relationship was a permanent one. Besides, the last thing she needed was unwanted attention from this man.

"T, give us a hand here!" O'Neill shouted.

Inclining his head towards Johan, Teal'c went to help his friends.

XOXO

Cameron Balinsky was probably the only member of the Prometheus' crew who wasn't finding the systems failure a bore. Most of them had nothing to do except sit around in the dark waiting for Lieutenant Hailey to perform some kind of miracle. It had taken some fast-talking but Balinsky had managed to persuade Ronson to let him go back to the derelict ship. He was now ensconced in the library, under the watchful eye of a couple of burly marines. What they were supposed to be protecting him from was anyone's guess but it meant there was someone to talk with. Being here alone would have been a little on the creepy side.

The amount of information was staggering. Balinsky was recording as much of it as he could. With his team still out of rotation, it would give him something to fill the long hours when he got back to the SGC.

"Hello? Anyone?"

"Through here," Balinsky replied to Doctor Felger's nervous query.

He was surprised to see the other man.

"I thought you'd be helping Hailey?" he said.

"Uh… no," Felger replied.

Balinsky frowned to himself. There was something going on he'd obviously missed. Which he admitted wasn't that unusual, especially if he immersed himself in his work.

"You want me to go? I can go. I mean I don't mind… I just thought I'd come out here and see… well… bye."

Felger's speech made absolutely no sense.

"Stay, it's fine," Balinsky reassured the other man, "there are plenty of monitors."

The other man moved to the far side of the room and there was silence for a few moments.

"It's odd there's still power here," Felger muttered almost to himself.

"I guess the systems are independent," Balinsky replied.

More silence. Balinsky glanced over his shoulder to see what the other man was watching. The view was of the active gate and people running towards it. It was horrific, but Felger's fascination seemed to have another source.

"I think this ship was powering the gate," he said.

"What?"

"The power source is here, not outside."

"Is that important? I mean, if Hailey gets things running again…"

"Then we'll go home."

"Huh?"

"Ronson's orders."

That was just wrong… especially where SG-1 was concerned. Balinsky wasn't likely to forget that SG-1 had been one of the teams to answer his panicked call. How could Ronson possibly leave them behind?

"That's not going to happen," Balinsky said. "If you could get the ship working again…?"

"I don't know… there's been a lot of damage."

"We can't leave SG-1 behind."

"Maybe you should talk to Hailey. I'm likely to screw it up."

"Do you really think she's going to go against Ronson's orders?"

Felger grinned and turned back to his monitor.

"I wonder if there's a schematic stored somewhere," he said.

XOXO

They took it in turns to watch Daniel through the night. Even though his condition showed no signs of changing, Jack didn't trust his care to Johan. Jack had seen this before, when Carter had first been infected by the Entity and he had no idea if it was good or bad. The thing could be about to take complete control… not that it would be able to achieve much. From what he had seen there were no computer systems here, no way to infect the civilization.

And that was the good.

It could have burnt him out completely. Jack could be gazing down at an empty shell. There was no way to tell.

Teal'c took over, just before dawn and Jack found himself going in search of Carter. He had the feeling she would be awake. Sure enough, he found her down with the X302s, she seemed to have half of one of them scattered over the floor. Both craft were now sequestered in a space barely large enough to hold them. Jack didn't like to think how they were going to get them out again.

"Problem?" he asked.

"She just felt a little rough as I brought her down," she explained.

"Anything I can do?"

"Sure, put that back together."

She handed him a wrench and indicate a panel towards the rear of the ship.

"Carter, will this ever fly again?"

"I don't know, sir."

Knowing Carter, the X302 would be okay… and would probably end up with a few improvements. There was a lot to be said for losing yourself in physical labour. Not that Jack could forget Daniel, but it was easier with something else to concentrate on. Jack knew he had to tire himself before he could even think about the possibility of sleep. Besides Carter was good company, and she secretly liked giving him orders. Her morale was more important than his self-esteem.

"This Johan guy? What do you make of him?" he asked.

"I think he has a crush on me," Sam replied.

Don't we all, Jack thought to himself before replying,

"But you trust him?"

"As far as I can."

By which Jack understood she was reserving judgement.

"I spoke to Pete," he went on.

Carter froze in her task.

"When?" she asked, her voice sounding strained.

"Before we left Earth. I dropped round to check on Cassie and he turned up."

"And Cassie?"

"Worried. I asked Pete to stay with her until we get back."

Jack couldn't help noticing the way Carter tensed every time he mentioned Shanahan's name. It seemed that he had an easier time discussing her boyfriend than she did. He understood that she must be uncomfortable talking about Pete in his presence but surely, if Jack showed her he was okay with it… She must be finding the separation difficult. After all this was the first serious relationship she'd had since he known her. He remembered how difficult he'd found it to leave Sara and as the years had gone by, it had never gotten any easier. Surely, Carter knew what she was letting herself in for. She was an air force brat and she'd lived with separation her whole life… Which was possibly why she was finding this so hard.

"Hey, we'll be back before you know it," he reassured her.

Carter stared at him as if he'd completely missed the point. Not unusual in itself, except this time she hadn't been talking astrophysics. Jack thought he'd better shut up for a while. He couldn't work out whether this was about Pete, Cassie, or something else.

"It's easier when the people you care about are with you, sir," she said looking directly at him.

"Yes it is," Jack replied, trying to keep his voice neutral.

She took a hesitant step towards him but before either of them could say anything else, the sound of rapid footsteps brought them to their senses. Johan burst into the improvised hanger,

"Your friend is awake," he gasped.

XOXO

The first thing Daniel did was throw up. Once his stomach was empty, he thought he'd be able to think more clearly, but the blinding pain in his head said otherwise. He couldn't remember the last time he had hurt this much. Even dying… The last thing he recalled was running away from the hamster people, now he was lying on something soft and he swore he could hear Jack's voice. Which was impossible … right?

He decided to throw up again.

"Ewwww! Daniel!"

It was definitely Jack.

"Jack?" Daniel questioned.

A strong hand gripped his.

"I'm here," Jack said.

Daniel forced his eyes open. Jack and Teal'c were both hovering over him. Raising his free hand, he aimed it somewhere in the region of Jack's face.

"Hey! Quit poking me!"

Definitely not an illusion. However, raising his head in greeting was definitely a mistake. The pain seemed to run right through his body… even his toenails were in agony. Daniel blacked out again.

"What's happening?" he demanded of his subconscious.

MY FAULT the voice replied.

To Daniel's inner ear it sounded tired… weak.

"Why?" he asked it.

HUMAN BRAIN TOO SMALL. I'M KILLING YOU.

"Then leave."

NOWHERE TO GO

Before Daniel could reinforce his argument he felt his body jerked back to consciousness.

"Easy," Jack said. "You're going to be okay."

Daniel laughed in his face. He couldn't help himself. He wasn't going to be okay, not while he had this thing in his head. Jack didn't know what he was talking about, which wasn't unusual. Daniel had always suspected his compassion would get the better of him one day and now…

"Just try to relax," Jack said, clearly disgruntled by Daniel's display of amusement.

"It's in my head," Daniel gasped.

"What? Then get rid of it!"

Daniel shook his head.

"That's an order!"

"Can't… nowhere for it to go."

"Yes, there is," Sam said, quietly.

"Carter, I haven't seen a single computer system since I got here."

"There's one, sir, controlling the gestalt."

"All those folks in suspended animation?"

"That's right. Sir, if we can use the Entity to disrupt the systems then maybe we can stop their incursion into our universe."

"Won't that kill them?"

Sam shrugged and looked towards Johan.

"If, as you say, you can control the computer then you should be able to wake them… to face their deaths when this universe ends," he replied.

"Which is when?" Jack demanded.

"Judging by the vast increase in entropy I'd say some time in the next hundred years," Sam said.

"Long enough."

"Jack?" Daniel questioned.

His friend was forgetting something.

"What?"

"You can't just leave them here to die."

"Daniel, they've managed to destroy one universe I'm not going to give them a chance to screw up another."

Daniel struggled into a sitting position, glancing at Sam in mute appeal that she'd support his argument.

"A planet without a Stargate… and no resources to build another one," she ventured.

"You would send my people back to the dark age!" Johan objected.

"At least you'd have chance," Daniel countered.

Johan subsided into silence, but Daniel couldn't help feeling that the other man didn't approve of the fate decided for his people. He was right about the stark choice before them. It would be a long struggle to regain their former level of technology… if they ever did. To Daniel's way of thinking anything was better than extinction. He'd seen too many dead civilizations to let this one fade away without hope of reprieve.

"You fit to walk?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Daniel replied.

His mind may have been willing but his body was not. No sooner had he swung his legs off the bed and stood up than Daniel found himself staring at Jack's boots.

"You have very large feet," he muttered.

"Thanks," the other man replied as, with Teal'c's help, he hauled Daniel back onto the bed.

"Plan B, anyone?" Jack said.

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Teal'c ventured,

"Could the Entity switch to another host?"

"I'll do it," Jack volunteered before anyone else had a chance to speak.

Sam's face paled at the thought and Daniel couldn't blame her. Jack seemed to have a curious disregard for the health of his brain. It was almost as if he thought he could get by just fine without it.

Daniel didn't even know if Teal'c's idea would work. How was he supposed to persuade the Entity that it would be better off in someone else's head? Surely one human brain was the same as another? If that was the case, wasn't Teal'c a better option? Although he was essentially human, their races had been separated for millennia. Enough time for differences in brain chemistry to have evolved.

He also knew that trying to talk Jack out of this was an exercise in futility.

"What do you want me to do?" Jack asked.

"Kiss me."

Daniel just couldn't help himself. The look on Jack's face made the lie worthwhile.

"You're kidding!"

"Yes I am… but some kind of physical contact…"

"Okay… okay… I get it!"

Jack took Daniel's hand.

Closing his eyes, Daniel tried to contact the life form within.

"This one will let you live," he told it.

NOT FOREVER

"No, not forever, but long enough for us to take you somewhere else."

WHERE?

"Somewhere safe… somewhere you can start to rebuild."

He had no idea if the Entity had access to his emotions… if it knew when he was lying. It seemed to be hesitating.

"Please?"

I WILL GO.

Daniel expected to feel something other than light-headed. It was if a great weight had been lifted from his mind. Jack toppled backwards landing with a crash despite Sam's best efforts to catch him.

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

There was a distinct Jack like groan. He was still conscious.

XOXO

"Sir? Sir?"

Sam was trying to get some other reaction out of him. His body was twitching, as if he'd been shot by a zat. Although the Colonel seemed to be able to throw off a zat blast without too much trouble, this was taking him longer. She was actually surprised that he was still conscious.

"Sir? It's Carter?"

She wanted something from him, some sign that he was still himself and the Entity hadn't taken him over completely. He groaned again.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked.

The Colonel didn't reply, but he raised his hand to his head. Sam reached for the first aid kit and found the Tylenol. Johan handed her a glass of water and she helped the Colonel swallow the drugs.

He seemed distracted as he took careful sips of the water. Sam wondered just how much information his mind was trying to process. They knew the Colonel's mind was wired differently from most people, but whether the ancient gene was going to help or hinder the absorption of the Entity, no one could say.

"Better?" Sam asked.

"A little," he admitted. "How's Daniel?"

Sam glanced over at the other man, feeling guilty that she hadn't checked on him until now.

"Daniel?" she questioned.

"A little tired," he admitted, "but I'm okay."

"We'll rest up for now and move out in the morning," the Colonel ordered although whether it was for Daniel's or his own benefit, Sam wasn't sure. She was painfully aware that they couldn't afford to delay for too long.

The Colonel seemed to be oblivious to any worries as he stretched out on the floor and closed his eyes. Sam had to abide by his decision, even if every fibre of her being was screaming against it. She admitted to herself that she had no idea what he and Teal'c had gone through in order to get here, or how long they had gone without sleep. The Colonel knew what he was doing, if he said wait then they had to wait. They were just so damn close…

Sam wasn't tired and she found herself climbing the stairs, back up onto the balcony to watch the stars. She wasn't entirely surprised when Johan joined her.

"We'll look after your people, I promise," she said.

"You will forgive me if I am sceptical," he replied.

"I don't blame you."

And she didn't. It was difficult to take a step out into the unknown, to start a new life. But Sam could also see the possibilities.

"Once the others are out of suspended animation, you could start having children again," she ventured.

"On a new world where they'd be subject to disease, malnutrition, unknown predators…"

"It wouldn't be like that. We'd make sure you'd have everything you needed to survive."

"We have another choice."

"Do you?"

"To die with dignity."

"Don't say that."

"Maybe our time has come."

Sam didn't know what she could say to break through his depression. Surely, he understood that they had no alternative but to stop what the others were doing. There were possibilities. Johan just needed to open his mind to see them. She might have continued with her argument if the scrape of a shoe signalled that they weren't quite alone. Sam turned around to see the Colonel step out of the shadows.

"Sir?" she questioned. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was, and you should be too," he replied.

It was difficult to assess his mood. Sam was sure they wouldn't have heard him, unless he'd wanted them to.

"That's an order," he added, giving her no choice in the matter.

"You don't trust Johan?" she asked in a low voice as she preceded the Colonel down the stairs.

"I didn't say that," he replied.

"You didn't have to."

"He's having a moral dilemma which makes him unpredictable."

"So do you think it's a good idea to leave him alone?"

"Probably not, but I want my team where I can see them."

Sam found herself staring at him, wondering if it was truly the Colonel she was arguing with, or the Entity that had taken up residence in his soul.

XOXO

Jack knew what was going through Sam's mind, but it was something he really didn't want to talk about. He knew the Entity was there, but he had no plans to start chatting with it. As far as Jack was concerned, it was a means to an end, nothing more. He wasn't interested in anything else it might be able to offer.

Back downstairs, he made sure that Carter was settled, before returning to his own corner. Call him paranoid, but he didn't like the idea of her spending time alone with Johan. Jack was well aware that they might have to force a decision onto him and his people. The less emotionally involved they all were, the easier it would be.

He slept a little during the night and woke with the dawn. It seemed like whatever planet Jack was on his mind was alert as soon as the respective sun (or suns) rose. Johan appeared a few minutes later, once Jack had managed to rouse the rest of his team. Since the other man didn't enter from the street, Jack assumed he'd just spent the night skulking about upstairs. He was also assuming that there wasn't another way out of here or they'd be running into a bunch of those… hamster people? ... pretty darn soon. In the absence of a better analogy, Jack decided to go with Daniel's term for them.

But Johan was key to their plan. Although they could probably do this without him, it would be easier if he came along. Jack decided he'd better make nice with the guy.

"You about ready to move out?" he asked in what he hoped was a neutral tone of voice.

"As soon as you are," Johan replied.

Jack looked around at the rest of his team. Only Daniel looked a little worn, which was understandable given what he'd put his body and mind through. Leaving him behind wasn't even worth considering.

Johan took point with Jack following close behind. As he understood it, they were following the path Carter and Daniel had taken when they'd fled the underground facility. As they walked, Jack realised he was really starting to hate this planet.

It was too dark.

It was too cold.

It was too quiet.

He found himself wanting to run to the top of the nearest slope and yell… just to prove there was some kind of life here.

"Aren't we kind of going the long way round?" he complained just to hear the sound of his own voice.

"The critetinae have direct access to the city," Johan replied, "but their method of travel is not comfortable for humans."

"Critetinae?"

He must mean the hamsters.

"Like crawling through miles of ventilation ducts," Daniel added.

"Doesn't sound too bad," Jack said.

"Think of your knees, sir," Carter grinned.

Jack scowled back at her. Since when had Carter been a smart ass? He decided he was better off keeping quiet as they marched onwards. Besides, his knees were holding up just fine. There was barely a twinge by the time they reached their destination.

If Johan hadn't been with them then they never would have found the place, Jack realised. Neither Carter nor Daniel seemed to know where they were going. The low building was a similar colour to the surrounding terrain and the dim light only added to the confusion.

"This is where I must leave you," Johan announced.

"What?" Jack demanded.

Losing their guide wasn't something he'd anticipated.

"I will not take you further."

The other man's face was set and Jack knew he wouldn't have much success in persuading him otherwise.

"We're not out to hurt your people," Jack said.

"No, but you wish to save your own… and will use any means necessary."

Jack nodded. There was no point in denying the fact, which left him with another problem. He didn't trust Johan enough to let him walk away alone.

"Teal'c, go with Johan back to the city," he ordered.

To his credit, Teal'c didn't argue… with either of his eyebrows. He was the logical choice, being the only member of SG-1 who could possibly match Johan if it came to a fight.

They stood and watched as their friend disappeared into the gloom.

"All right campers," Jack announced, "let's go."

XOXO

Chloe didn't think she'd ever seen Jay so elated. He was practically bouncing as he burst back into the engine room. Hailey sighed in annoyance at the interruption. Although she'd been working for hours she had only managed to turn the lights on. Wary of the younger woman's uncertain temper Chloe waved her hands in warning. As usual, Jay was completely oblivious.

"Tools… I need tools," he gasped.

"I'm using these," Hailey grumbled. "There's more in the storeroom."

"Thanks."

And he disappeared again. Chloe hurried after him. He'd only gone a short way down the corridor.

"Jay?" she questioned the butt that was currently sticking out of the store cupboard.

"Just a second," he shouted back.

When he finally emerged he had beads of polystyrene packing stuck to his head, which Chloe took pains to brush away.

"Where are you going Jay?" she asked.

"Back to the other ship. It can work the gate. We can get Colonel O'Neill home and no one else needs to get hurt."

"How about you?"

She was familiar enough with Jay's 'experiments' to know that other people weren't necessarily going to be the victims if something went wrong.

"I'll go get the first aid kit," she sighed.

"Chloe?"

"Don't think for a moment I'm letting you go over there on your own?"

"Balinsky will be with me."

Chloe wasn't about to back down. She had to have some purpose other than holding flashlights. She wasn't just another assistant. Jay may have had the doctorate but Chloe had a degree in maths and a masters in astrophysics. Another couple of years and she'd have her PhD. She'd swapped her tweed skirts and heels for BDUs and combat boots and there was no way was he leaving her behind.

"Shall we go?" she said.

"Uh… okay."

Stepping outside the Prometheus had to count as one of the most thrilling experiences of her life. Walking on an alien worlds was one of the reasons Chloe had accepted the invitation to work at the SGC. Now she was here. She'd done it. Impulsively, Chloe reached out and squeezed Jay's hand.

"Thank you," she smiled.

XOXO

How did Colonel O'Neill do it, Jay Felger wondered. He was distinctly aware of Chloe's presence, even though she was standing on the other side of the room. This was a complex problem. He needed to concentrate.

As far as he could see, the control systems were all intact. They just didn't seem to be working. His mind went back over the video footage he'd seen, but he still couldn't figure out why the Gate controls would work. They had power, but it didn't seem to be getting through to the control circuits. Sitting back on his heels, Jay became aware that Chloe had stopped talking and was staring in his direction. It was no good. He was going to screw this up, just as he did everything else in his pathetic little life.

Unless…

If it wasn't electrical then perhaps the problem was physical.

"They disconnected it!" he declared.

"What?" Balinsky questioned.

"They had to, to stop anyone else using the gate. Don't you see?"

He needed to trace it back. If he was right, then somewhere along the line he'd find the break in the circuit.

"How long do we have before we need to open the gate?" he asked.

"We just missed the first window," Chloe said.

"Then we have twenty four hours before the next one. Should be enough..."

"For what?"

"To fix this."

Fishing in the pocket of his BDU's, Jay pulled out a notebook. Quickly, he sketched the diagram from memory.

"We need to follow it here, here and here," he said.

"What are we looking for?" Balinsky questioned.

"A break in the circuit. Call me if you find anything."

It was only after the other two had left the room that Jay realised he'd given them an order and they'd obeyed without question. He was surprising himself here. Even if they failed, at least they were doing something.

XOXO

"Which way?" was the first thing Jack asked as the elevator doors slid open.

Daniel tried not to glare at his friend. He could understand the other man's impatience, but it was still annoying, especially as he needed a few minutes to get his bearings. It wasn't as if this was on his normal commuting route. Sam was keeping quiet. She hadn't been in the best shape as they'd fled the base and was unwilling to take the lead on this one.

Instinctively, he reached out to the Entity, forgetting for a moment that it had moved on. This was down to him alone, which was worrying when you realised that he had no idea where the computer system might be. The best he could do would take them back to where he'd first woken up. After that… Logically the heart of the system couldn't be that far away. Daniel could only hope that Jack would be able to do what was necessary. His own experience of the Entity was enough to make him realise that it wouldn't let go easily… if it did at all.

Daniel became more confident as the walked. He recognised a corridor here, a flight of stairs there... more than enough to lead them into the heart of the complex. And those creatures were everywhere. He had to wonder if they'd been tipped off, and his thoughts strayed back to Johan. But it couldn't be. Teal'c would never let him get away with it.

Now the need to escape was no longer imperative, Daniel found he had time to look around the stasis room. It almost made him sick. They'd paused at the threshold of the vast room, taking in the sight of the rows upon rows of bodies. He was certain that, last time, it hadn't smelled quite so bad. Decay was in the air. Someone had died here and the creatures hadn't noticed. This wasn't the answer to these people's problems, Daniel realised. Death had been postponed, not delayed indefinitely. Now, more than ever, he knew they'd be doing these people a favour.

"Sir!" Sam's voice was strident.

"What?" Jack hissed.

"It's Mason."

She made a movement to free their comrade but Jack put out a hand to stop her.

"When we shut this place down, we'll take him home… I promise," he said.

For a second Daniel thought she was going to argue and Jack was going to have to make his suggestion an order, but Sam backed down.

"Yes sir," she mumbled.

Sometimes it distressed Daniel to realise how much the years had moulded him into the military mindset. He understood Jack's point of view completely. Knowing how Sam had been affected by her brief period in stasis, he realised they couldn't afford to burden themselves with a sick colleague. And that Jack would make good on his promise to bring the young man home.

"This way," Jack said.

He led the way through the bodies, aiming for the far side of the room. There looked as if there was a way out, but from this distance, it was difficult to tell. As they drew closer, Daniel realised it wasn't even a door, just a veil of darkness. It didn't look solid. The obsidian surface seemed to be moving ever so slightly. Unable to help himself, he reached out to touch it. Jack immediately slapped his hand away.

"Daniel, what have I told you about touching?" he warned.

"I shouldn't unless it's safe," Daniel replied, "but how do I know it's safe unless…"

"Ah!"

There was a dull thunk. Sam had thrown something through the barrier.

"I think it's safe, sir," she said.

"Then why's it there?" Jack demanded.

"To stop anyone seeing what's on the other side."

It wasn't a very convincing explanation, but there was only one way to find out if the barrier passed Jack's definition of safe. Daniel took a step forward.

XOXO

"Crap! Daniel!"

Jack's expletive was understandable, as was his action to plunge after Daniel… and Carter was only a couple of steps behind. He felt a mild tingle as he walked through the barrier. Not enough to be described as a shock but his hair crackled with static as he reached the other side. The first thing he heard was Daniel retching. As he looked around, Jack saw Carter was also struggling to keep breakfast in her stomach.

"Hey… easy," he breathed.

His hand was on her back, rubbing in smooth circles. It was only as he moved away to attend to Daniel, that he dared to raise his eyes and take a closer look.

At one time, it had been a man. Human. Any trace of gender had vanished from the desiccated frame. A mass of wires stretched out from its body, leading God only knew where.

But it was alive. Its open eyes told him that much. The eyelids had been removed so it couldn't close them.

And it was in pain.

Everything seemed horribly logical. They wouldn't … couldn't use a conventional system, so they'd created something else. This travesty of life was controlling every thing here. An organic computer.

"How old do you think it is?" he asked.

Carter was clearly amazed that he could be so clinical. For once in her life, she didn't seem curious. As if she had no desire to find out how this worked. She and Daniel would probably have left given the chance, but Jack stopped them by asking another question.

"Will this still work?"

"The Entity is capable of infecting organic organisms… we already know that," Carter snapped.

"It's a living being, Jack," Daniel said, quietly. "It might die."

Carter nodded in agreement.

"Not much of a life, if you ask me," O'Neill argued.

This was the only chance they would get. If they weren't going to do it then they had to get out … and fast. As far as Jack was concerned, there was one way they could solve the problem. He stepped towards it, bending his face close,

"Can you hear me?" he asked in little more than a whisper.

The sound that came after might have been a breath of wind… or faulty air conditioning, but Jack swore he heard a voice reply,

"Help me."

Jack pulled back, staring down at the face. The eyes were following him. It knew he was there. The fact that anyone could do this to a sentient being killed any pity Jack might have held for the people that had created this place.

"How?" he asked.

There was no answer. Either it couldn't muster the energy to speak again, or the first words had been the product of wishful thinking. He could feel Daniel's eyes on him, demanding that he make a decision… or make the decision Daniel wanted him to. Despite what others might think, Jack did not revel in taking human life.

'You following this?'

YES.

It was the first time Jack had actively contacted the Entity and he felt himself wince as the consciousness crashed into his own. He really wasn't cut out for this, he decided.

'Can you do it?'

YES.

"So how's this going to work?" Jack asked Carter.

"The Entity is essentially electrical in nature," she replied, albeit reluctantly.

"Will the whole system shut down?"

"I imagine they have some kind of failsafe."

"Okay… so hook me up."

As gently as he could, Jack started to remove the wires that held the husk in its prison. He knew it would die and he liked to think it was grateful. There was certainly relief in its eyes as it took one last shuddering breath.

"Give me a hand here," Jack ordered.

With reverence, the three of them lifted the corpse onto the floor. Daniel covered it with his jacket. Taking its place, Jack tried to stop his body from trembling as Carter connected the electrodes to his head and upper torso. It definitely wasn't a reaction to her cold hands slipping under his shirt.

At first, he felt nothing and he wondered if the removal of the previous occupant had damaged the system irreparably.

"Sir?"

He could barely hear Carter's voice. Jack turned his head to look at her and…

… and realised that he'd made a really big mistake.

Jack screamed.

XOXO

The Colonel was screaming.

"We've got to get him out of there," was Daniel's immediate response.

As much as she hated herself for doing it, Sam grabbed hold of him, stopping him from ripping the wires away from his friend.

"Let go of me," he struggled in her grasp.

"It was his choice, Daniel. We have to give him time."

How much, Sam wasn't sure. It would depend how long she could stand the sound of his screams… or how long she could restrain Daniel before he used his superior strength against her.

Around them, things were starting to change. Lights were flickering and the persuasive hum that Sam had barely been aware of started to fade and die. Outside, the creatures had returned. Their chattering had been replaced by high-pitched squeaks of panic. Letting Daniel go, Sam drew her weapon, ready to defend the Colonel.

Then the lights went out.

Somehow, the ensuing silence was more unnerving than the noise had been. Slowly, carefully, Sam stepped back through the dark veil. The room beyond was bathed in the green glow of what she presumed was emergency lighting. Something scuttled across the floor behind her and Sam whirled round in time to see on of the creatures darting towards a hole in the wall. As her eyes became accustomed to the gloom, she saw another and another fleeing from the room. They were all running on all fours. Any vestiges of intelligence seemingly gone from their rodent like forms.

Had they also been under the control of the intelligence here? Their pack like behaviour certainly suggested as much.

Trying to quell her disgust, Sam moved towards the nearest sleeping body, her fingers searching for signs of life. She found a pulse but there was no indication that the person was waking up. Worried, she returned to the Colonel, hoping there was something he could do.

His eyes were shut tight and Sam could only assume he was conscious enough to hear her.

"Sir?" Sir?" she urged.

As if in response to her words, his body twisted as if he was fighting against something.

"Carter?" he hissed.

"Yes… are you okay?"

"Wants to kill them."

The Colonel gave another gasp as his body heaved.

"Daniel, help me get him out of there!" Sam ordered.

"No!" O'Neill yelled. "Have to stop it, have to fight."

"Jack!" Daniel protested.

They all knew the Entity would leave either voluntarily or… The Colonel thrashed again, doing more damage to his anchored limbs as muscles tore.

"Carter!" he pleaded.

Leaving Sam in no doubt as to what he wanted her to do. Before she could react a zat blast ripped through the air and the Colonel's body went limp. Sam rounded on Daniel, angry that he had been the one to do it. She could have… would have…

"Let's hope one is enough," was all he said.

O'Neill's body was certainly still. Over the years, the Colonel had managed to build up something of an immunity to zat guns. Although they usually knocked him down, he was never out for very long.

"Crap!" Sam swore.

"What?"

"I don't think he's breathing."

There was no time for gentleness; there was no time for finesse. Sam and Daniel ripped the wires away from the Colonel, tearing his skin. Tipping his head back, Sam bent over him and was relieved to fell a breath on her cheek. He was alive.

"Colonel, can you hear me?" she demanded as she slapped him lightly about the face.

She might have hit him harder but a rough hand came up to grab hers and Sam found herself staring into a pair of deep brown eyes. Before she had a chance to express her relief, she found herself being pushed backwards. Sam hit the floor with enough force to knock the breath out of her. It didn't help that the Colonel landed on top of her. She distinctly heard something go crack…

… just before the whole room exploded.

At least that was how it seemed. Sam's body was shielded by O'Neill's, but she still felt the wave of heat that washed over them.

Of all the scenarios where she had fantasised about being under Jack O'Neill, broken ribs and the room being on fire hadn't really figured. And they had to move. Unaware of her injury, the Colonel dragged her to her feet. It was all Sam could do to fight back the whimper of pain.

"Daniel!" he yelled.

"I'm okay," the other man replied.

"Let's go."

Sam stumbled behind them clutching her damaged ribs. They had no time to see how badly she was injured. Noticing that she was falling behind, O'Neill and Daniel came back for her wrapping their arms securely about her shoulders as they tried to escape the flames.

In the main room, the sleeping people were stirring. The foam that bound them to the couches had crumbled to dust.

Milling about aimlessly, disorientated from their long sleep. Sam didn't think she'd seen so many blank looking faces and she wondered what traces of sanity they might retain. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the familiar figure of Major Mason.

"Mason, we've got to get these people outta here!" Sam yelled.

She was pleased to see the younger man respond. Daniel, she noted, went to help him, leaving her with the Colonel O'Neill.

"You okay?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

She nodded, holding onto him tightly for support.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Ribs. I think you crunched a few."

The people were starting to stumble past, heading towards the exit. Not all of them though. Some hadn't survived the reanimation process. Sam wasn't sure if they were entirely dead… not yet… but the flames were creeping closer and closer.

"How about you?" she asked the Colonel.

"Headache," he smiled.

He was looking down at her, but Sam could see no trace of pain in his eyes. There was something else… something she didn't quite recognise. Sam found herself wanting to back away from him but before she could move, she felt his hand brush through her hair. The lips that touched hers were warm and soft, bringing back memories of locker rooms and tank tops… and how very, very wrong this all was.

The Colonel wouldn't…

He'd never…

Sam swung her knee up into his groin as she pushed him away.

"Sam!" Daniel protested.

"That's not Colonel O'Neill!" she said as the Entity struggled back to its feet.

"You're going to have to kill him," it spat.

"Fine," Sam said as she shot him with her zat, desperately hoping that enough time had elapsed that the second shot wouldn't kill him. He certainly didn't get up right away. Kneeling beside him, Sam checked his vital signs. The pulse was weak and erratic. He barely seemed to be breathing. He wasn't dead… but he might be close enough. Sam had an idea.

"We need to move him," she said to Daniel.

It took the two of them to manoeuvre the Colonel's dead weight towards the nearest occupied couch. Then, whilst Daniel held O'Neill upright, Sam grabbed the man's arm and slammed the palm of his hand down onto the body. The Colonel made contact with exposed flesh and there was a crackle of electrical discharge as the Entity fled his ailing form.

To Sam's horror, the body on the couch started to twitch. Its limbs moved in a parody of life as it struggled to rise. Sam let the Colonel drop to the floor as she struggled to draw her zat. She fired the first shot, Daniel the second and Sam the third. Then they stood back and watched as the body disintegrated.

XOXO

Sam was looking very grey, Daniel noticed as they bent to haul Jack back to his feet. She was clearly in pain and he realised she shouldn't be trying to support a man twice her weight. Daniel knew he could manage more easily alone.

"Why don't you get out of here?" he suggested. "I'll bring Jack."

"I'm okay," she replied through gritted teeth.

"No, you're not."

She glared at him, but made no move to release her burden. With the place burning down around their ears, it was hardly the time to stand and argue.

"I'll look after him, I promise," Daniel tried to reassure her.

"He's my responsibility."

"He's my friend, too. I don't want to see either of you get hurt. You're injured and you're going to slow us down. If you go first you can clear the way for us."

The look she gave him would probably have killed Jaffa at thirty paces but Daniel wasn't about to back down. They were wasting precious time. Even so, she probably wouldn't have left if Jack hadn't chosen that moment to slur,

"Get out of here, Carter … order."

It may not have been very distinct but an order was an order. Sam promptly turned her back on them and headed for the exit.

"Can you walk?" Daniel asked Jack.

"Sure," he replied.

However, when Jack tried he promptly fell over and Daniel had to pull him upright again.

"Where Carter?" he asked.

"It's okay, she's gone, she's safe," Daniel said.

He fervently hoped that was the case. Jack was certainly showing signs of confusion. Even assisted, his steps were hesitant and he kept on trying to walk in the wrong direction. Trying to make Jack hurry proved useless and all Daniel could do was coax him along one-step at a time. Next to the towering bulk of Teal'c, it was difficult to remember what a tall man Jack was… and consequently how difficult to manoeuvre. Daniel was painfully aware of the fire raging behind them. His lungs were already straining as they struggled to find air.

Suddenly, doing this by himself didn't seem like such a good idea. Daniel's instincts were telling him to run, but he knew that wasn't possible. Since they were most likely the only living beings left alive in the complex, he had no choice but to keep going. The stairs were the worst … Jack just didn't want to pick his feet up.

"You should really cut down on the cake," he muttered as they faced another flight of steps.

"Cake? Where?" Jack demanded, suddenly more alert.

"Not here, Jack."

"Okay."

If memory served, this was the last set of steps before they reached the elevator that would take them to the surface. Drawing on his last reserves of strength, Daniel started upwards. He was never certain of exactly what happened next. The fire below or years of wear and tear had probably weakened the structure. One moment he was climbing the stairs, the next, the structure beneath his feet had crumbled, and he found himself falling into space.

He didn't fall far. The hollow space beneath the stairs was perhaps twice his height… just too far to jump. But it was boxed in and there was no other way out.

"Jack! Jack!" Daniel yelled.

Up above, he could just about make out the slumped form of his friend precariously balanced at the edge of the hole. Waking him up probably wasn't the best idea, but if he didn't… Daniel couldn't see how they were going to get out of here.

XOXO

Teal'c considered himself an expert in the subtle nuances of using silence. It served him well when words could not. During his time as the first prime of Apophis, simply staring at a victim was often more effective than torture. He, therefore, did not choose to speak to Johan as they made their way back to the city. However, there was more to his silence than his usual taciturn nature.

He did not like Johan.

Although the man had been instrumental in saving his friends, Teal'c had very little respect for his recent behaviour. Seven years ago, Teal'c had been faced with a similar choice. He had decided to trust Jack O'Neill and give himself the chance to help his fellow Jaffa rather than let them stay enslaved to the false gods. Johan may not see his people's fate in the same way, but the limbo in which they survived was no better than slavery. As far as Teal'c was concerned it didn't matter, where or how you lived, as long as you were free. This place, this planet, was worth nothing. It was dying. The chance to start again on a brand new world should not be ignored.

Teal'c would rather have been facing danger with his friends than here with Johan. He understood why O'Neill had given the order. If their positions had been reversed, he would have done the same but it did not make the waiting any easier.

They were almost back at the city, when Johan called a halt to their trek. He, it seemed, had noticed something different about this seemingly unchanging world.

"The Critetinae," he said, "they are moving."

In the distance, Teal'c could see packs of the animals scuttling around.

"Then we must return," Teal'c replied.

"Why?"

"Because my friends are in danger."

"We can't help them. The Critetinae are too many."

"Then we will die in the attempt."

"And if I refuse?"

"You will not."

It was not a threat… not entirely. If the man did not follow then Teal'c would take the necessary actions to disable him. That way he could still follow the spirit of O'Neill's order. Without another word, Teal'c started to jog back the way they had come. He was gratified to hear the sound of Johan following.

Teal'c ran sure and speedily over the uneven ground, Johan matching him step for step. When they reached their destination, he did wonder for a moment if the speed had been necessary. People were wandering around outside the entrance to the complex, seemingly aimlessly. Whatever had happened, it appeared as if his friends had achieved their objective. At first, he could see no sign of the other members of SG-1, and then he caught a glimpse of Major Carter pushing her way through the crowd towards him.

"Teal'c!" she called out.

"Major Carter!"

"Daniel and the Colonel… they're still in there."

"Show me."

"Get these people back to the city!" Major Carter ordered as she led Teal'c back towards the entrance.

Teal'c detected the smoke as soon as the elevator started to drop. A distinct haze was present in the atmosphere of the corridor below. Whatever air recycling system they had here, it was clearly malfunctioning.

"It's this way," Major Carter said.

The flight of stairs led downwards, but it was difficult to see properly through the thickening smoke. Narrowing his eyes, Teal'c could just about make out a dark shape slumped on the floor. It seemed that Major Carter had seen it too, because she darted forward, but Teal'c put out his hand and grabbed her arm. Trusting his instincts, she held back.

"Why can we only see one body?" he questioned.

Teal'c was fairly certain the prone figure was O'Neill. He was also sure that Daniel Jackson wouldn't have abandoned his friend. Major Carter, it appeared, had come to the same conclusion.

"Daniel?" she called out.

"Down here!" A voice replied.

The hole became apparent as soon as they had climbed down the first few steps. Daniel Jackson was standing at the bottom, pitifully gazing upwards.

"Don't suppose you have rope?" he asked.

Teal'c did not. Even at full stretch, he was unable to reach Daniel Jackson. Drawing back from the hole, he looked about himself, trying to find something that could be used as a rope. To his surprise, Major Carter was busy removing O'Neill's pants.

"I'll need yours too, Teal'c," she ordered briskly.

He did not argue, being relieved that, this day, he had not chose to 'go commando'. Teal'c turned his back as Major Carter also divested herself of her garment. However, there was really no time for embarrassment as she knotted the three pairs of pants together and flung one end of the makeshift rope down the hole. With Teal'c's weight on the other end, Daniel Jackson had no trouble hauling himself up.

Once he reached safety, however, he clearly had trouble knowing where to look. O'Neill, however, seemed to be at least semiconscious and was staring at Major Carter's behind with a happy smile on his face.

"We must leave now," Teal'c said.

There was little argument as, at that moment, the ground chose to shift beneath their feet. The damage caused by the fire was starting to be felt at this level and the complex was falling apart.

"Bring him!" Major Carter ordered as she scooped up the 'rope'.

Teal'c did as requested, slinging O'Neill across his shoulders as they ran towards the elevator. He placed the man down on the floor as the shaking lift took them towards the surface. Major Carter handed him back his pants and she helped O'Neill back into his.

"Easy sir," she warned as he struggled against her.

It was difficult to tell if it was a result of the injury he had or embarrassment that Major Carter was the one dressing him. Although, Teal'c suspected he would rather her than himself or Doctor Jackson.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"My brain is the ultimate weapon," O'Neill replied.

"He still seems confused," Teal'c said.

Or perhaps not? The elevator shook to a halt but the doors didn't open.

XOXO

"Teal'c, give me a hand here," Daniel said as he moved to one side of the double doors.

Between them, they managed to wrench the doors open, only to find that the elevator had stopped shot of the surface. The gap was wide enough for Sam to squeeze through, but Daniel wasn't sure about the rest of them. Indeed, when he tried it, he could have sworn he left a layer of flesh behind. At least Jack wasn't as bulky as himself or Teal'c, Daniel mused as they manoeuvred him through the gap.

They all lay there for a moment, trying to regain their breath. It was difficult to decide exactly how long they'd been below ground. Daniel felt like it had been hours, but there was little change in the light outside. Sprawled on the ground, he felt rather than heard the rumble beneath them.

"Uh… Sam… Teal'c…" he began as he scrambled to his feet.

But his friends didn't need the warning. Teal'c was already pulling Jack upright as Sam set off at a run. Jack seemed to sense the urgency of the situation and managed to run unaided. Daniel kept close by him, just in case he needed help. Not knowing how far the complex stretched, they had no idea how far they had to go. All the way back to the city seemed like a safe bet. There was no way they'd make it.

The ground shifted again, and sent Daniel sprawling. This time, Jack helped him back to his feet.

"Thanks," Daniel said.

The other man just nodded. Their pause had been long enough for them to drop some way behind Sam and Teal'c. How Sam was managing to move so fast, Daniel couldn't imagine. By now, she had to be running on pure adrenalin. Daniel made a mental note to do less weight training and more speed work next time he hit the gym. Spots were starting to flash before his eyes as he pushed himself to the limits of his endurance. There was definitely a red haze forming … or was the sun coming up? The atmosphere suddenly didn't seem to hold enough oxygen to fill his lungs.

A crack rent the air and Daniel had just about enough time to think,

'Oh No! Not again!' before he hit the ground.

The patch of earth he had been standing on had dropped a few feet, leaving himself and Jack staring upwards. There were enough cracks in the new cliff to provide hand and foot holds. They managed to scramble up with the help of Teal'c and Sam.

"What the hell's going on?" Jack demanded, sound something like his usual self.

"I don't know, sir," Sam replied, "some kind of self destruct, maybe?"

But they didn't have time to debate the issue. The ravine, Daniel decided, if they could just get that far …

Was it his imagination? Could he hear water running? Or was it just the blood pounding in his ears?

"There!" Teal'c shouted.

It was the bridge. As one, they halted before it. Despite the earthquakes, the bridge was still intact. But would it stay that way long enough for them to get across? Daniel was sure there were a few more stones missing that when they had last crossed over … not to mention sections of the guardrail. There wasn't really another choice. The path down to the water was just as treacherous.

"Let's go!" Jack ordered.

The crossed the bridge walking four abreast. At least that way, there was a better chance of being able to grab hold if someone did slip. Daniel wasn't too thrilled about taking the outside position, but he didn't complain. With both Sam and Jack injured it made sense that he and Teal'c should take the more dangerous route.

Even if the entire world had been tumbling into the abyss, Daniel knew he couldn't take a step further. Once on the other side of the bridge, his knees buckled and he was quite happy to lie there and pant. To his relief Jack and Sam did the same. Only Teal'c remained on his feet, but Daniel suspected it was a matter of pride since he appeared to be as badly winded as the rest of them.

For a moment, the world was still.

"I think we'd better move," Jack said.

They could do little more than stagger away from the edge of the cliff, knowing they had to keep going… however much it hurt. Daniel could already detect rumbling beneath the souls of his feet. Without meaning to, he turned around to watch. The cliff they had been sitting on was sliding down towards the ravine.

Throwing themselves flat on the ground they tried to shield themselves for the quake that seemed to go on forever. Finally, Daniel was able to raise his head. Choking on the dust, he surveyed the area. The landscape was barely recognisable. Whatever had happened to the complex, the destruction seemed complete.

Without speaking, he turned away and started to walk back towards the city.

XOXO

"Crap," Balinsky swore quietly to himself. Then he kicked himself for steeling Colonel O'Neill's favourite expletive.

There wasn't really any other way to express his feelings.

For twenty hours, he'd been crawling through the bowels of this ship … diligently tracing the circuits Felger had pointed out … Now he'd found it he wished he hadn't.

Clicking on his radio, Balinsky called his team mates.

"You'd better get here," was all he said.

When Felger arrived, he was far more vocal. So much so that Chloe put her hands over her ears and admonished,

"Jay!"

They could see the broken circuit but there was no way any of them was going to be able to reach it. The conduit was so cramped that it was difficult to know how anyone could have got down there to cut the wires in the first place. Unless they sent a child…

"What about Hailey?" Balinsky suggested.

The other two stared at him. It wasn't such a stupid idea… was it?

"What?"

"Okay, you can ask her," Chloe said.

"Me?"

"Well, she hates me," Felger said.

"And I don't like her," Chloe added.

"Chloe!"

"Well I don't. She was mean to you."

Balinsky stared at the pair of them. Looking down the conduit again, he wondered if there was any other way. It wasn't that he didn't like Hailey, but she had what was known as a difficult personality. Well if it had to be him…

"I'll be back," he said.

Back on the Prometheus, he heard Hailey a long time before setting eyes on her. She had a very penetrating voice, especially when things weren't going her way. Balinsky had no idea what she was yelling about but he was nearly knocked down by a young sergeant in tears. He peeked into the engine room and had to duck back as a large spanner was hurled in his direction. Dragging a handkerchief out of his pocket, he waved it through the open door.

"What?" Hailey snapped.

"Looks like you could use a break," Balinsky said.

She sighed, suddenly seeming more petite than ever.

"Yeah," she admitted.

"There's something we'd like you to take a look at, over on the other ship," he said.

"I don't have time."

"Please… otherwise Felger'll have to do it and…"

Balinsky let his words trail away. He reminded himself to apologize to Felger later, but he suspected it was the only way he was going to drag Hailey away from her current task.

"Something will explode," he finished.

"Fine," she snapped and marched out of the engine room.

XOXO

"We'll come back, I promise," Carter told Johan.

The man did look convinced and Jack couldn't blame him. If they got home, they could send the Prometheus back for these people… If being the operative word.

"I'll stay," Daniel volunteered.

"Daniel," Jack warned.

"Someone has to."

Right. Four seats in the X-302's and five SG team members. Even Jack could do that math.

He glanced at the people who were gathered around. Most of them seemed to be in shock and Jack wasn't sure he wanted to be around when reality hit. He didn't want to leave any one here and certainly not alone.

"Carter, Teal'c, Mason, take the X-302s and…" he began.

"With due respect, sir, I don't think that's a good idea," Carter interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"You're injured."

"So are you."

"We don't know what that Entity did to you."

"I'm not leaving Daniel here alone."

"I will remain," Teal'c said.

"You sure?"

"Indeed."

"Mason, you think you can handle an X-302?"

"Yes sir," he saluted.

The young man looked pale but determined. They needed another pilot to get the second ship back and Jack would need Carter with him… just in case he passed out again. Teal'c was the only member of SG-1 who had escaped injury so he was the logical choice.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Jack said.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad of the chance to go home. Jack really wasn't feeling too hot. If he stopped to think about what had happened the world started to spin and he had a strong urge to vomit. Jack being Jack, had no desire to think or engage in any other cognitive process. It could wait until he was safely in his house with a full cooler of beer. No witnesses.

Glancing at his watch, Jack realised they didn't have long before Ronson was due to activate the Gate. The last thing he wanted was to spend another night in this place. It was a bit of a mystery why Daniel wanted to stay. Jack suspected there was something about the civilization that the other man found fascinating, but he had to resist the urge to ask and respect his friend's decision.

"Let's move out," he ordered.

Despite Carter's tampering, both X-302's rose smoothly upwards, but she did give a low groan as the G-forces pressed her back in her seat.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Next time, I'm going on top," she replied. "How about you, sir?"

"I'll live."

The truth was that the turbulence was making him feel a little airsick. Recalling how rough the journey had been first time through the wormhole, prompted him to add,

"How about you take it from here?"

"Yes, sir… energy readings are spiking. It's similar to the readings taken on P9J-567."

Jack closed his eyes but it did little to block out the intense flash of light that signalled the

Gate was active.

"Take me home, Carter," he ordered.

XOXO

Hailey looked at the hole and then at the three people facing her.

"You called me away from a vital task to crawl down there?" she asked.

They all nodded.

"We can operate the gate from here," Felger said.

"You think?"

"I know. Look shouldn't we at least give SG-1 the chance to come home. They'd do the same for us."

She closed her eyes. Damn it but Felger was right. She'd never sleep at night if she thought she'd been responsible for stranding SG-1. The ghost of Colonel O'Neill would haunt her forever. Hailey had always considered her physical size to be a disadvantage, but they had a point. No one else was small enough to do this.

"Give me the soldering iron," she said.

Then, without another word, she swung herself down into the conduit.

It was a tight fit. Another half an inch and she would have stuck, which would have been downright embarrassing. She had to go head first, adding to the claustrophobic feeling. It was easy enough to do this kind of thing in training. When there was someone there to help you out if you got in trouble. Here she was too far down for anyone to get close enough to pull her out. Although she had to admit there was a certain satisfaction to be obtained from knowing that not even Major Carter could have fixed this one.

Manipulating the soldering iron in such a tight space wasn't easy. And if she dropped it… well she supposed she could send someone back to the Prometheus for another one. She hadn't noticed the heat before, but sweat was dripping down into her eyes. There were so many wires and she really didn't know what went where. Whoever had built this ship didn't seem to believe in colour coding. Relying on your instincts wasn't a great thing to do when the lives of four people were under threat.

"That's it!" she called back over her shoulder.

There was a scuffling above her and Hailey realised that Felger was probably scuttling back towards the bridge. Hailey started to wiggle her way backwards. Now everything was done, she really, really wanted to get out… and fast. She was very glad that a pair of hands grabbed her around the ankles and pulled her free.

"Thanks," she smiled at Balinsky.

"We need to get the gate open now," he said.

Hailey glanced down at her handiwork. Felger must have thrown a switch somewhere because the connection sparked a little… but it held.

"Come on," Hailey said.

They hurried outside. Felger and Chloe, she noted weren't far behind them. Instinctively, the all stared at the ring embedded in the wall. It was glowing. Hailey found herself holding her breath as two X-302's burst into the dome. Someone hugged her as the two craft swung around and came in for a graceful landing.

XOXO

"Do we have to blow it up, sir?" Sam said.

"Yeah, we do," he replied.

SG-1 was standing on the bridge of the Prometheus, watching the surface of the moon turn beneath them. Thanks to Felger, they were able to keep the Gate open indefinitely. If they wanted to… They'd rescued almost a thousand people from the planet on the other side of the wormhole. Most of them had already been shifted through the Stargate to a neutral world. Once they got back to the SGC, both Sam and Daniel intended to be part of the team intent on finding them a new planet. All this would be no more than a memory.

"When you're ready, Jack," Ronson said.

"Do it," the Colonel ordered.

The Asgard weapons were very efficient. The base was soon reduced to an ugly scar on the surface of the planet… nothing more than space dust. It was such a waste. Sam wished she wasn't an air force officer, and Colonel O'Neill didn't have the right to give her orders. She knew it was naïve to think that the technology could have just been studied and not used. Being the good officer she was, Sam just stood there and watched as the dust settled. She'd expected Daniel to protest but he remained silent.

"That's it?" the Colonel said. "We can go now?"

Sam gave him a tired smile.

"Yes, sir."

It was over. Sam reckoned her ribs would earn her a least a fortnight's downtime.

She could go home, take a long hot bath, eat take out, talk to Pete… clean the house. A touch of normality would be nice… before she had to go out and save the world again.

Except it would take them another three days to get back to Earth…

Sam intended to spend most of that time asleep and she suspected her teammates would do the same. They'd done their duty.

"Sir, there's just one more thing?" she began as they headed towards their respective quarters.

"What?" he asked.

"Back when you had the Entity?"

"That sounds kinda kinky."

"Sir."

She was too tired to play games. The Colonel was trying to avoid answering any awkward questions but she pushed on.

"Do you… uh… remember much?"

"Not a thing."

His face was calm, impassive. If he was lying, Sam couldn't tell. Jack O'Neill was an expert.

"Okay sir. I'll see you in the morning."

XOXO

As Jack walked away from Carter, he was painfully aware of the eyes of his other two friends. He suspected that both Teal'c and Daniel knew he had been lying. How could he tell her that it had been the only way? An act so out of character that Carter would know his body wasn't totally under his control.

Okay so maybe that wasn't the only thing he had thought of but he hadn't been about to start hitting her. Besides, if he'd done that Carter would have whipped his butt. He was going to file the whole incident away as something that shouldn't be thought about… ever. Jack still had trouble believing he had been so easily shunted aside. It reminded him a little too much of his experience with Kanan. Was his mind really that weak? Any alien that came along and it was bye-bye Jack O'Neill. He'd get over it… he had to. It was like any other injury, as he got older, recovery got harder and harder…

At least he'd have a couple of weeks before he had to go back on duty. With Carter injured, Hammond would take them off rotation for a while, giving Jack enough time to sort himself out. Right now, sleeping all the way back to Earth seemed like a really good plan. He should have known that Daniel would have other ideas. When it came to 'wanting to talk', he was as bad as a woman. Of course, he, Jack and Teal'c were sharing quarters, which made it difficult to avoid each other.

"You okay?" Daniel asked as soon as they had settled on their bunks.

Teal'c was staring, which made it hard not to reply.

"I'm fine," Jack said.

"Which is why you lied to Sam?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Shut up, Daniel."

Jack wasn't about to admit anything to anybody. What they didn't know, they couldn't tell. Teal'c had already witnessed more that was good for him. Let them wonder.

XOXO

This time it was raining.

Daniel was standing in front of the stone, without a hat, without a coat.

This time he knew why. The first thing any of them did when they got back from a mission was see Janet. Somehow being here made a strange kind of sense. We're back. He wanted to tell her. We're safe. She would have been mad at all of them… except perhaps Teal'c.

Daniel had brought flowers. White lilies. He didn't even know if Janet had liked flowers, but it would have been worse to turn up empty handed.

On a day like this, he would have expected to have the graveyard to himself, but the scrape of a boot on concrete made him look around.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Since before you arrived, Daniel Jackson."

Moving forward, Teal'c placed his own offering of yellow daisies onto the earth.

"Hey!"

The woman's call distracted both men from their contemplation of the grey stone. Sam was walking towards them through the rain, her face almost obscured by the huge umbrella she was carrying.

"I thought you couldn't drive?" Daniel said.

"I got a lift," she replied.

He looked around for Pete, but there was no sign of the detective. Instead, he noticed another familiar figure hurrying along the path. Daniel glanced at Teal'c, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"The Colonel very kindly offered to bring me," she glared at them. "He didn't know exactly where it was and I did…"

It wasn't worth arguing about, Daniel decided, especially now Jack was within hearing distance. He'd brought tulips, Sam roses. The riot of colours was somehow a fitting tribute.

"You guys want to go and get something to eat?" Daniel suggested.

"I could go a steak or three," Jack agreed. "T?"

"Indeed. Major Carter, will you be accompanying us?" Teal'c asked.

"As long as you don't let me eat anything but salad."

"But you'll be having diet soda." Jack teased.

"And what about that dessert they do at O'Mally's? White chocolate cheesecake?" Daniel added.

"Dessert but no appetizer," Sam warned.

As they walked away, Daniel thought he heard a woman's laugh.


End file.
